China’s footprints are all over the African continent, signing deals with many countries. However, the finer details of China-Africa loans are often kept secret. There are concerns that African countries are mortgaging their natural resources as collateral for the loans. The China-Africa deals ought to be transparent, and the public has the right to scrutinise the agreements.
China’s footprints are all over the African continent, signing deals with many countries. However, the finer details of China-Africa loans are often kept secret. There are concerns that African countries are mortgaging their natural resources as collateral for the loans. The China-Africa deals ought to be transparent, and the public has the right to scrutinise the agreements.
The finer details of China-Africa loans are often kept secret by both parties. There are concerns that African countries are mortgaging their wealth in the form of mineral and oil resources as collateral for the loans. Angola, Africa’s third largest economy is already heavily indebted to China. The Export-Import Bank of China, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China, and the China Development Bank extended $14.5 billion in credit to Angola. For Angola, it repays China in crude oil making it China’s second largest supplier after Saudi Arabia. Meaning that it would repay its debt to China through its major mineral resource and foreign earner, oil. The effect of such an agreement is that Angola is left with little to sell on the world market. Angola has fallen into China’s economic grip, a grip it’ll struggle to free itself from in a long while. China has been lauded for its loans that go directly into infrastructural development. The question of the quality of infrastructure has not been fully scrutinised.
The request by South African parliamentarian, and opposition DA leader Maimane to have the terms of the contract South Africa signed with China tabled before the parliament should be a requirement for governments that have signed deals with the Chinese. There is no denying that many African countries have binding social, economic, and political ties with the Chinese. The deals between China and Africa ought to be fair and transparent. The Chinese are not in the business of doing charity work, but the country is targeting the natural resources of African countries to advance its own economic development, to cement its position as a global power and leader, thus every country on the continent needs to be wary.
Source: https://thisisafrica.me
