China rejects Africa 'debt trap' claim ahead of US-Africa summit
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Analysts say China remains the biggest bilateral lender to Africa in the past decade.
PHOTO: NYTIMES
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WASHINGTON - China’s ambassador to the United States Qin Gang on Monday rejected charges that Beijing had mired African countries in debt during a forum ahead of a US-Africa summit, citing a report that African countries owe three times more debt to Western institutions.
US President Joe Biden is set to host dozens of African leaders for a summit
“China’s investment and financing assistance to Africa is not a trap. It is a benefit,” Mr Qin told a news event in Washington.
He said African countries should be places for international cooperation, not “geopolitical games”.
He cited a July study by the British charity, Debt Justice, that said African countries owed three times more debt to Western institutions than to China.
“China is not the biggest creditor of African debts,” he said. “The debt owned by China is only a small amount.”
“You can see hospitals, highways, airports, stadiums,” he added, calling for “concrete and workable measures” from the US summit to help Africa.
Analysts say China remains the biggest bilateral lender to Africa in the past decade, although new loan commitments have declined in recent years.
Last year, US Secretary of State Antony Blinken said Washington would have to do things differently to help Africa with its infrastructure needs following the Trump administration’s insulting remarks about African countries. It was time, he added, to stop treating the continent as a subject of geopolitics and, rather, as a major player on its own.
President Biden’s foreign policy has emphasised promoting Western countries as a counterweight to China but US officials have suggested they are not asking African partners to choose between Washington and Beijing.
State Department spokesman Ned Price said on Monday that 50 invited delegations had confirmed they would take part in the Washington summit – 49 countries and the African Union.
US officials, which have faced criticism for ignoring Africa, have characterised Chinese lending as “predatory” and leading to potential “debt traps”. The US is now focusing on facilitating private investment.
US Deputy Secretary of Commerce Don Graves, speaking earlier at the forum, said China was the largest investor in Africa and that US companies had not always been interested in engaging in development projects.
“We took our eye off the ball, so to speak, and US investors and companies are having to play catch up,” he said. REUTERS
