Cairo/Beijing: African countries have been in trouble due to the Corona epidemic, the food shortage caused by the Russia-Ukraine conflict and the recession-like situation in the world economy. In such a situation, the international community had demanded, including African countries, that China, which provides the most loans to African countries, should waive the debt of the respective countries or restructure it. But as China ignores it, reports of displeasure have surfaced from African countries. Against this background, China’s new Foreign Minister, Qin Gang, recently completed his Africa tour. However, analysts and the media have been claiming that China has not been very successful in alleviating the displeasure of African countries during this tour, with one exception. 

Advertisement

China’s new Foreign Minister Qin Gang has been on a tour of Africa since January 9. In the last seven days, he visited Ethiopia, Gabon, Angola, Benin and Egypt. Among these, Angola and Ethiopia have been the African countries known to have borrowed the most from China. Angola has borrowed 42 billion, and Ethiopia has borrowed nearly 14 billion dollars. In addition, Zambia, Kenya, Uganda, Djibouti, and Nigeria have also taken huge loans from China. Moreover, many countries failed to repay their loans because of the economic crisis caused by Corona pandemic and the Russia-Ukraine conflict. 

Besides, China accounts for more than 12% of the debt burden on African countries. Therefore, the international community and African countries demanded that China waive and restructure its debt. However, African countries have been displeased with China’s evasive policy. Along with the debt burden, there have been difficulties in the various projects started by China in Africa. In addition, many projects have been stopped halfway. This has also created dissatisfaction in African countries. While this resentment against China has increased, the United States and European countries have announced new plans for the African continent. In a conference organised by the US Biden administration last month, 55 billion dollars in finance was announced for Africa. 

Against this backdrop, the cold response of African countries to the Chinese Foreign Minister’s visit becomes noteworthy. Moreover, it has been reported that China refused to support Africa’s permanent membership in the Security Council during the tour. It has also claimed that this will intensify the growing resentment against China in the African continent. 

मराठी 

हिंदी