Wang Yi, the Chinese Foreign Minister and his Kenyan counterpart, Raychelle Omamo
China does not trap Africa in debt, Chinese Foreign Minister said in Kenya on Thursday (December 6th) Wang Yi, on the occasion of an African tour where the latter must in particular visit various infrastructure projects financed by his country.
In Mombasa, where China is financing the construction of a new terminal in the largest port in East Africa, Wang Yi asserted that the loans linked to these projects represented “mutual benefit”, dismissing the idea of a trap. “This is a narrative that was created by those who do not want to see the development of Africa,” he told reporters. “If there is a trap, it is that of poverty and underdevelopment.”
Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit follows shortly after US Secretary of State’s November visit to mainland Antony Blink, a journey intended in part to counter the growing influence of China.
China, Africa’s No.1 partner
Beijing is the continent’s largest trading partner, with direct trade of more than $ 200 billion in 2019, according to official Chinese figures. But China is often accused of using its creditor status to wrest diplomatic and trade concessions, raising concerns about the ability of many African states to support the debts incurred.
China has thus become Kenya’s second-largest creditor after the world Bank and financed expensive infrastructure projects in a country where debt levels have skyrocketed in recent years.
In Mombasa, the construction of the new terminal represents an investment of 353 million dollars. Beijing has also funded the most expensive infrastructure since Kenya’s independence, with a train line costing $ 5 billion. During a visit to Kenya in January 2020, Wang Yi had described this line as a “benchmark” of the New Silk Roads (Belt and Road Initiative), a Chinese initiative that finances infrastructure projects.
Asked by AFP, economic and geopolitical analyst Alikhan Satchu, pointed out that Kenya faces high levels of interest to finance investments which do not “generate a return on investment in the near future”.
The minister is due to meet with President Kenyatta, after a meeting Thursday morning with several ministers where agreements in the areas of trade, health, security and transfers of green technologies have been signed. “The visit is a testament to the deepening of relations between the two countries”, declared the Kenyan Minister of Foreign Affairs at the end of the meeting. Raychelle Omamo.
On Thursday, the Chinese diplomat also announced the appointment of a Chinese special envoy for the Horn of Africa, signaling his country’s willingness to get diplomatically involved in this region plagued by various conflicts. “We will continue to play an even greater role for the peace and stability of the region,” he said in Mandarin, translated by an interpreter.
His announcement coincides with the arrival of the US special envoy for the Horn of Africa, Jeffrey Feltman, expected Thursday in Ethiopia, a neighboring country to Kenya and shaken for more than a year by the war opposing the federal army to the rebels from Tigray. According to the State Department, Feltman will try once again to bring the belligerents to the negotiating table, amid a lull in the fighting.
Wednesday, December 4, in Eritrea, Wang Yi expressed China’s opposition to American sanctions against this extremely closed country and to interference “in the internal affairs of other countries under the pretext of democracy and human rights”. Washington last year imposed sanctions on Asmara over its involvement in the conflict in Tigray, marked by massacres of civilians and mass rapes. After Kenya, the Chinese diplomat must go to the Comoros archipelago.
With AFP