China’s development banks provided US$23 billion in financing for infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa from 2007 to 2020, more than double the amount lent by such banks in the US, Germany, Japan and France combined, a new study showed.
The Center for Global Development think tank said that a review of 535 public-private infrastructure deals funded in the region in those years showed that China’s investments dwarfed those of other governments and multilateral development banks.
Nancy Lee, lead author of the paper and a senior policy fellow at the center, said that overall public funding for projects in sub-Saharan Africa remained stuck at about US$9 billion, well short of what the region needs for roads, dams and bridges.
“There is a lot of criticism of China, but if Western governments want to boost productive and sustainable investments to meaningful levels, they need to deploy their own development banks and press the multilateral development banks to make these investments a priority,” Lee said.
From 2007 to 2020, China Exim Bank and China Development Bank provided US$23 billion in financing, while all other major development finance institutions combined provided US$9.1 billion, the report found.
It said that the main US development finance agency, now known as US International Development Finance Corp, lent US$1.9 billion for infrastructure in the region during that period, less than one-10th of what China provided.
Multilateral development banks such as the World Bank provided US$1.4 billion per year on average for public-private infrastructure projects in sub-Saharan Africa from 2016 to 2020, the report said.
China’s lending to Africa has come under heightened scrutiny in the past few years for lack of transparency and its use of collateralized loans, with economists at the IMF and World Bank warning that many low-income countries are facing or are already in debt distress.
However, Western countries have been slow to pump up investments, despite “much rhetoric,” Lee said.
The administration of US President Joe Biden in July last year unveiled a new push to expand business ties between US companies and Africa, with a focus on clean energy, health, agribusiness and transportation infrastructure.
However, its ongoing review of trade policies has left the private sector skittish about committing funds.
Australians were downloading virtual private networks (VPNs) in droves, while one of the world’s largest porn distributors said it was blocking users from its platforms as the country yesterday rolled out sweeping online age restriction. Australia in December became the first country to impose a nationwide ban on teenagers using social media. A separate law now requires artificial intelligence (AI)-powered chatbot services to keep certain content — including pornography, extreme violence and self-harm and eating disorder material — from minors or face fines of up to A$49.5 million (US$34.6 million). The country also joined Britain, France and dozens of US states requiring
Hungarian authorities temporarily detained seven Ukrainian citizens and seized two armored cars carrying tens of millions of euros in cash across Hungary on suspicion of money laundering, officials said on Friday. The Ukrainians were released on Friday, following their detention on Thursday, but Hungarian officials held onto the cash, prompting Ukraine to accuse Hungary’s Russia-friendly government of illegally seizing the money. “We will not tolerate this state banditism,” Ukrainian Minister of Foreign Affairs Andrii Sybiha said. The seven detained Ukrainians were employees of the Ukrainian state-owned Oschadbank, who were traveling in the two armored cars that were carrying the money between Austria and
Kosovar President Vjosa Osmani on Friday after dissolving the Kosovar parliament said a snap election should be held as soon as possible to avoid another prolonged political crisis in the Balkan country at a time of global turmoil. Osmani said it is important for Kosovo to wrap up the upcoming election process and form functional institutions for political stability as the war rages in the Middle East. “Precisely because the geopolitical situation is that complex, it is important to finish this electoral process which is coming up,” she said. “It is very hard now to imagine what will happen next.” Kosovo, which declared
MORE BANS: Australia last year required sites to remove accounts held by under-16s, with a few countries pushing for similar action at an EU level and India considering its own ban Indonesia on Friday said it would ban social media access for children under 16, citing threats from online pornography, cyberbullying, online fraud and Internet addiction. “Accounts belonging to children under 16 on high-risk platforms will start to be deactivated, beginning with YouTube, TikTok, Facebook, Instagram, Threads, X, Bigo Live and Roblox,” Indonesian Minister of Communications and Digital Meutya Hafid said. “The government is stepping in so that parents no longer have to fight alone against the giants of the algorithm. Implementation will begin on March 28, 2026,” she said. The social media ban would be introduced in stages “until all platforms fulfill their
RSS