China says it will “waive” 23 interest-free loans to 17 African countries.
Africa’s largest government creditor also said it will redirect $10 billion of its International Monetary Fund reserves to African countries.
The cancelation of the loans was announced by the Foreign Minister Wang Yi in a meeting of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation last week, according to a post on the ministry’s website.
However, it didn’t provide details on the countries that owe the money nor the value of the loans which it said matured at the end of 2021.
Read also: China led creditors to grant Zambia debt relief
“China will waive the 23 interest-free loans for 17 African countries that had matured by the end of 2021,” Mr Wang said at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation.
“We welcome and support the decision of Tanzania and Zambia to reactivate the Tazara Railway. China will continue to actively support and participate in the construction of major infrastructure in Africa through financing, investment and assistance.
“We will also continue to increase imports from Africa, support the greater development of Africa’s agricultural and manufacturing sectors, and expand cooperation in emerging industries such as the digital economy, health, green and low-carbon sectors.”
He said China has pushed forward its cooperation on infrastructure, and completed several major projects in Africa since the Dakar Conference.
“Over three billion has been delivered out of the 10 billion US dollars of credit facilities pledged to African financial institutions, and nearly 2.5 billion US dollars of loans were channeled to Africa’s priority programs.
“More than two billion of the 10 billion US dollars of trade finance has been allocated, and China’s import of African goods within seven months reached 70.6 billion US dollars.
“Chinese companies have invested 2.17 billion US dollars in Africa. We are prepared to, through the IMF’s two Trusts, re-channel 10 billion US dollars of its SDR to Africa, and encourage the IMF to direct China’s contributions to Africa.
Since 2000, China has announced multiple rounds of debt forgiveness of interest-free loans to African countries, canceling at least $3.4 billion of debt through 2019, with Zambia receiving the most cancellations over that period. according to a Bloomberg report.
Ifunanya Ikueze is an Engineer, Safety Professional, Writer, Investor, Entrepreneur and Educator.
