Xinhua: China helping Africa build development track over debt trap
Xinhua |
Updated: 2018-09-12 16:36
Chinese investment in Africa is more than $100 billion now, covering almost every single country on the continent. But that in no way means China is luring any country into any kind of "debt trap", according to a commentary by Xinhua.
By building infrastructure and improving Africa's labor force, China will eventually help the continent find the strength to sustain healthy development.
According to a study by the China Africa Research Initiative at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, China has provided $114.4 billion in loans to Africa from 2000-2016, which accounted for a mere 1.8 percent of Africa's total external debt. Today, around 36 percent of African debt is owned by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
With long maturities and low interest rates, Chinese loans primarily aimed at helping power the continent's economic take-off and long-term development, rather than pursuing short-term steep returns.
At the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held on Sept 3-4, African leaders refuted claims of the debt trap. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who also holds the rotating chair of the African Union, said the "debt trap" hype is an attempt to discourage Africa-China interaction.
Chinese investment in Africa is more than $100 billion now, covering almost every single country on the continent. But that in no way means China is luring any country into any kind of "debt trap", according to a commentary by Xinhua.
By building infrastructure and improving Africa's labor force, China will eventually help the continent find the strength to sustain healthy development.
According to a study by the China Africa Research Initiative at the Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies, China has provided $114.4 billion in loans to Africa from 2000-2016, which accounted for a mere 1.8 percent of Africa's total external debt. Today, around 36 percent of African debt is owned by the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.
With long maturities and low interest rates, Chinese loans primarily aimed at helping power the continent's economic take-off and long-term development, rather than pursuing short-term steep returns.
At the 2018 Beijing summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation held on Sept 3-4, African leaders refuted claims of the debt trap. Rwandan President Paul Kagame, who also holds the rotating chair of the African Union, said the "debt trap" hype is an attempt to discourage Africa-China interaction.
