China’s activities in Africa have raised a lot of eyebrows, and the issue of being trapped into Chinese debt is real and ominous. China in her aspirations to become a global trade leader is employing an imperialist behavior, willing to step on the back of any hungry country enough to be lured with access to a market of over a billion people and huge interest on the debt – which is often extended in kind rather than in cash.
The relationship between China and Africa can be summarized as ‘debt-trap diplomacy’ and most African countries are finding the honey so sweet as to keep going for more and more. Being offered cheap infrastructure loans, with the sting of default coming if smaller economies can’t generate enough free cash to pay their interest down. Whether the officials and government authorities accept it or not, Chinese dealings in Africa are being viewed in a highly skeptical way.
The truth is, the menace of falling into Chinese debt-trap is very real, and it is happening. As a result of this, African countries are finding it hard to extricate themselves from the grip of Chinese debt. It means that debt is continuing to pile on and on, unabated, and the repercussions will be dreadful. Through debt, China has used its soft power to gain access to the African unfettered market, employing craft predatory trade agreements that have seen it import its products at the expense of local industries.
Here are the top 10 African countries with the largest Chinese debt.
| Rank | Country | Debt to China |
| 1. | Angola | 20.98 billion |
| 2. | Ethiopia | 6.82 billion |
| 3. | Kenya | 6.69 billion |
| 4. | Zambia | 6.05 billion |
| 5. | Egypt | 5.21 billion |
| 6. | Nigeria | 4.29 billion |
| 7. | Côte d’Ivoire | 3.92 billion |
| 8. | Cameroon | 3.78 billion |
| 9. | Republic of the Congo | 3.42 billion |
| 10. | South Africa | 3.38 billion |
Without reading this:Kenya.😭
Thank you for your post on the debt status of our African countries with China.