By Ana Monteiro and Tom Hancock
China to Waive Some Africa Loans, Offer $10 Billion in IMF Funds
Beijing to forgive 23 interest-free loans to 17 nations
Pledges to rechannel SDRs through two IMF trusts to Africa
China, the largest government creditor to emerging economies, said it will forgive 23 interest-free loans to 17 African countries and redirect $10 billion of its International Monetary Fund reserves to nations on the continent.
Foreign Minister Wang Yi announced the cancelations in a meeting last week of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, according to a post on the ministry’s website. It didn’t provide details on the value of the loans which it said matured at the end of 2021, nor did it state which nations owed the money.Since 2000, Beijing has announced multiple rounds of debt forgiveness of interest-free loans to African countries, canceling at least $3.4 billion of debt through 2019, according to a study published by Johns Hopkins University School of Advanced International Studies. The canceled debt was limited to mature, interest-free foreign aid loans, with Zambia receiving the most cancellations over that period.
However, the vast majority of China’s recent lending in Africa such as concessional loans and commercial loans have never been considered for cancelation, the report added, though some of it has been restructured.
Bloomberg
