Critics have argued China’s Belt and Road Initiative could help it gain control of key seaports and railways across the world – but African leaders have responded this week: They need the money
Despite repeated U.S. attacks on China’s lending practices, a procession of African leaders, including Egypt President Abdel Fattah El-Sis, left, flew into Beijing this week to ask for more loans.The warnings from the Trump administration were dire: African countries would be held captive by “predatory” loans from Beijing in a deliberate Chinese strategy to use secret debt agreements to achieve global dominance.
“We’ve tried other sources,” said Aboubaker Omar Hadi, chairman of the ports and free-trade authority in Djibouti, a small country in the Horn of Africa, who landed in Beijing this week with a US$15-billion wish list. China is fighting back against the criticism by Mr. Bolton and others. The attacks by the Trump administration and other Western governments are an “evil attempt” by “fearful” people who seek to sabotage the Belt and Road Initiative, the Chinese ambassador to South Africa, Lin Songtian, said in a speech Thursday.
In contrast to the Chinese model, the U.S. agency’s financing deals will be “transparent” and “sustainable” and its social impacts will be “properly assessed,” its website says. While the U.S. agency has been busy signing deals with other countries, it has been slow to offer loans so far, Djibouti officials said.
In its meetings with Chinese officials this week, Djibouti will seek US$15-billion in loans and investment over the next 10 years for a new container terminal, new roads and renewable-energy projects, Mr. Hadi said.
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