Africa: China Cancels 23 Loans to Africa Amid 'Debt Trap' Debate

Johannesburg - A recent announcement by China that it is forgiving 23 loans for 17 African countries may be motivated by accusations of "Debt-trap diplomacy," say some analysts. China vehemently rejects this, alleging it's a way for the U.S. to discredit Beijing, Washington's main challenger in the quest for influence in Africa. "It is not uncommon for China to do something like this ... now obviously it is connected to the overall debt-trap diplomacy narrative in the sense that clearly there's a felt need on the part of China to push back," Verhoeven told VOA. China's announcement did not specify the countries or the amount of loan forgiveness, but analysts say that since 2000, China has regularly forgiven loans that are nearing their end but have a small balance. "This is not a loan cancellation per se, but the cancellation of the remaining unpaid portion of interest-free loans that have reached maturity, that is if a loan was supposed to be fully paid off over 20 years, but it still has an outstanding balance, they cancel that outstanding balance," Deborah Brautigam, director of the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University's School of Advanced International Studies, told VOA. China's motivations. Brautigam's research shows that between 2000 and 2019, China canceled at least $3.4 billion of such debt in Africa. China has also been playing a role in restructuring the external debt of some African countries such as Zambia, which became the first African country to default on its debt during the pandemic. Echoing Brautigam, Hameiri wrote in an email to VOA, "There is scant evidence that China has pursued 'debt-trap diplomacy' - i. e., the idea that it would on purpose issue loans to ensnare recipients in unsustainable debt, in order to seize strategic assets or exercise control over their governments."