The good and bad from China-Africa forum

Last week during the Forum on China-Africa Co-operation (FOCAC), China pledged $60 billion in financing for projects in Africa in the next three years, stirring a huge debate about the medium-term debt sustainability outlook of African economies

Now, the concern about China weaponizing loans through a debt-trap diplomacy is actually not misplaced. The model China has used over time has been contracting and not investing, where China EXIM bank and private banks finance State-owned companies to deliver infrastructure projects then African countries pay back in form of commercial and concessional loans.