WATCH AND READ FOR YOURSELF HOW CHINA IS RE-COLONIZING AFRICA THROUGH DEBT TRAP DIPLOMACY
CHINA RE-COLONIZING AFRICA THROUGH DEBT TRAP DIPLOMACY: A CASE OF
NIGERIA, KENYA, ZAMBIA, ETHIO PIA, KENYA, ANGOLA AND NORTH SUDAN.
INTRODUCTION
Africa has been seriously engulfed with debt from time
immemorial but of recent the nature of the loan undertaken from china is
alarming with a rigorous clause that undermine African sovereignty in what
looks like another round of colonization by China. China has embarked on
relentless loan giving to African countries with dubious clause that undermine
the political and economic power. This China does in order to gain global
influence and emerged as global superpower.
However, another reason dubious debt trap is for it to
control the world biggest technology consumer market, Africa. This has made China
to embark on re-colonization of Africa as part of the adventure it missed
during the jamboree colonization saga in global capitalism. It desires to
become a global economic superpower has made it to bring the artificial poverty
ridden and corrupt continent, Africa in debt trap diplomacy.
While dealing with global north in their home zones through Chines
price and superior technology innovation, china is busy bringing Africa under
its control through loans.
THE CONCEPT
RE-COLONIZATION AND DEBT TRAP DIPLOMACY
Re-colonization is a new colonization wave undertaken by
china which involves the seizure and control of African asset and sovereignty
right in their own country and controlled directly by china after failure to
meet the heavy debt own by African countries.
DEBT TRAP DIPLOMACY
Debt trap diplomacy was put forward by Brahma Chellaney (2017:2)
according to Brahma (2017:2) term “Debt-trap diplomacy “describes diplomacy
based on debt carried out in the bilateral relations between countries with an
often alleged negative intent. The creditor country intentionally extends
excessive credit to a debtor country with the alleged intention of extracting
economic or political concessions from the debtor country when it becomes
unable to honour its debt. However, the term was created by Brahma (2017) to
describe allegedly predatory Chinese lending practices where poor countries collect
overwhelmed loans which would force them to cede control of strategic assets to
Beijing.
AFRICAN COUNTRIES WITH
HIGH DEBT TO CHINA
NIGERIA (WEST AFRICA) $5.2
BILLION
Nigeria is a country located in West African part of Africa, the
most corrupt country in Africa with an estimated population of 200 million
people. Brahma (2017:5) cited that, Nigerian currently owes China the sum of
4.8 billion dollar with a recent loan of 400m dollar reported by Saharareporter
(2020) making up a total of 5.2 billion dollars. Saharareporter (2020) viewed
that, the Nigerian national assembly committee noted that the clauses in
Article 8(1) of the commercial loan agreement signed between Nigeria and
Export-Import Bank of China allegedly concedes sovereignty of Nigeria to China
in the $400m loan for the Nigeria National Information and Communication
Technology Infrastructure Backbone Phase II Project signed in 2018. According
to a report by saharareporters (2020), the controversial clause signed by
Federal Ministry of Finance (borrower) on behalf of Nigeria and the
Export-Import Bank of China (lender) on September 5, 2018, provides that, “The
borrower hereby irrevocably waives any immunity on the grounds of sovereign or
otherwise for itself or its property in connection with any arbitration
proceeding pursuant to Article 8(5), thereof with the enforcement of any
arbitral award pursuant thereto, except for the military assets and diplomatic
assets.”
In support of Saharareporter (2020), thisdaylive.com (2020/08/03/)
reported that, the loan agreement clause waived Nigeria’s sovereignty immunity,
because the clause was capable of mortgaging the sovereignty of Nigeria, saying
it exposes Nigeria to the fate of Zambia, which signed a loan agreement with a
similar clause with China and has now lost some of its national assets to the
Asian country on default of repayment. In an effort to advise Nigeria against
falling to the same fate with Zambia, Nigerian financial publication (Nairametrics)
warned of falling into a Chinese debt trap. Among the West African countries
which are heavily indebted to china are Cameroon with a total debt of
5.5billion dollars, Ghana with 3.5 billion dollars
The implication of this loan is that once Nigeria failed to
pay china the loan, china will move into Nigeria and start controlling
Nigerians viable asset in the loan clause, the chines government will take over
Nigeria’s sovereignty meaning controlling the territorial area in viable
sectors of the economy and productive industry will be replaced with their
companies and workers the way they did in Zambia.
ZAMBIA ($7.4 BILLION), (
SOUTH AFRICA)
Zambia is a country located in south part of Africa, Brahma (2017:70)
viewed that Zambia is owing china a whooping sum of 7.4 billion dollars in
regard to the above debt, thisday (2020) checks showed that, China in 2018 had
taken over Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC) over loan default
and had commenced talks with the Zambian government to take control of Zambia’s
national electricity company, ZESCO, and the Kenneth Kaunda International
Airport, Lusaka, owing to the inability of Zambia to meet its loan repayment
promises to the Asian country, this put Zambian sovereignty at risk. The Zambian government
was in talks with China about in total surrender of the state electricity
company ZESCO as debt repayment since the country has defaulted on multiple
Chinese loans for infrastructure projects. Similarly, Djibouti owes over 80
percent of its GDP to China and in 2017, became host to China's first overseas
military base.
The inability of Zambia to pay off their has made china to
take control Zambia National Broadcasting Corporation (ZNBC), Zambia’s national
electricity company, ZESCO, and the Kenneth Kaunda International Airport,
Lusaka. These organizations that are state own are taken over and controlled by
china in soil of Zambia. Meaning the control have known say over the
international airport, broadcasting corporation and electricity, all been
dictated by china courtesy of debt trap. This is another phase of colonization
champion by china.
Other South African countries are Angola which top the list
of countries which are highly indebted to china. Angola owes china the sum of
25.6 billion dollars. LONDON (Reuters) posited that, Angola has found itself
with a dwindling amount of crude to sell as more of its oil flows to China for
debt repayment, Another drain on Angola’s oil was a fresh round of pre-financing
from China that more than doubled the number of cargoes sailing east as
repayment from February. The deal, struck with China’s state-run Sinochem Group
in December, involved as many as six cargoes per month, on top of three to five
already earmarked for fellow Chinese firm Unipec. Bruce said.
(KENYA) EAST AFRICA ($7.9
BILLION)
According to John (2018:54) China lent Kenya extensive funds
to build highways and the standard gauge railway between Mombasa and Nairobi.
totaling over US$6.5 billion as of 2020. In late December 2018, Kenya reportedly
came close to default on Chinese loans to develop its largest and most
lucrative port, the Port of Mombasa. This could have forced Kenya to relinquish
control of the port to China. Debate from Sri Lanka media and some commentators
have posited that chines loans could jeopardize Kenyan sovereignty.
ETHIOPIA (EAST AFRICA) 13.5 BILLION DOLLARS
Ethiopia is renegotiating billions of
dollars in loans from Beijing for a railway to avoid being buried by “serious”
debt woes, Ethiopia’s top envoy to Beijing said. inkstonenews.com reported
that, the loan if the Ethiopian government failed to pay the railway which the
loan funded will be taken over, the railway links the Ethiopian capital to
neighboring Djibouti, and is tied to China’s global infrastructure push that
critics say sets a “debt trap” for poorer countries. In September 2012,
the China Development Bank (CDB)
signed a memorandum of understanding with the Ethiopia Sugar Corporation
for another loan of US$500
million for the construction of sugar factories in the Lower
Omo Valley and the clause clearly showed that inability to pay means taken over
of the sugar factory by china and a total control of the factory by the chines
workers in the territory of Ethiopia
THE REPUBLIC OF CONGO
($7.3 BILLION), CENTRAL AFRICA
Republic of the Congo: An estimated $7.3billion is owed to
Chinese lenders. The exact number is unknown even to the Congolese government.
NORTH SUDAN 6.4 BILLION
DOLLARS ( NORTH AFRICA)
North Sudan is a country located in north Africa, it recently
gained independence after rigorous civil war with southern Sudan, a Christian
dominated and oil reach part of Sudan, north Sudan has become the fifth
countries in Africa that is heavily indebted to china it currently owes china
the sum of 6.4 billion dollars for infrastructure financing. The in ability to
pay up these loans means a direct control of that project finance by china.
IMPLICATIONS OF THE DEBT TO AFRICAN COUNTRIES
Just as soon as we had thought we were over with colonialism,
we became engulfed with neocolonialism and another virus have come called
neoliberalism with a gene called loans. The loans have made China to come up
with the idea of re-colonizing Africa in present world through debt trap. China
gives African countries loans of different forms that put African sovereignty
in jeopardy. In exchange of the loans, china demands payment in the form of
jobs, and natural resources.
The implication of this debt is that in the future when the
African countries are unable to pay the debt, china will dictate to Africa how
to manage its economics and political affairs, china has undertaken on its
neoliberal agenda through load of debt given to Africa in order to trap them in
it and control them. The negative effects of Chinese loans to African economies
include lost of local companies to those Chinese, loss of most of the infrastructure
in the loan agreement clause, loss of most African countries properties, loss
of sovereignty and direct control of African countries by china in their
territories.
Finally, China has embarked on a regime in a re-colonialist
manner through high-interest loans, intending to coerce these African countries
once they default to pay the debt or refused to align with China on key
strategic and military issues. However, the ten African countries with highest
loan from china are as follows;
AFRICAN COUNTRIES WITH HIGHEST DEBT TO CHINA
1.
Angola
($25 billion),
2.
Ethiopia
($13.5 billion),
3.
Kenya
($7.9 billion)
4.
Zambia ($7.4 billion)
5.
Congo
Brazzaville ($7.3 billion)
6.
North
Sudan ($6.4 billion).
7.
Cameroon
($5.5 billion)
8.
Nigeria
($5.2 billion) formerly 4.8 billion dollar
9.
Ghana
($3.5 billion)
10. DR Congo ($3.4 billion)
CONCLUSION
Conclusively, the numerous debt African countries have
entered with china heavily showed a new wave re-colonization in Africa with
rigorous clause been signed by African leaders in an attempt to bring
infrastructural development to their countries and ensure electoral support
from their citizen. They tied the future of the country to debt and to external
control in what seems to be china to be drive in seat of African economy and
partially its sovereignty. The inability of any of the African countries to pay
the debt means total taken over of the infrastructure the loan help to create
and some key resourceful properties of the said African countries. The African industries will also be taken
over by china and directly controlled by them, dictating within the said
African countries how to run it. These loans has taken African countries backed
to colonization era and has proven to be the pipe sucking African resources to
the upper class countries with inability to meet their needs, while Africa
remains in poverty servicing the debt. These debts, has in recent time proven
the validity of dependency and underdevelopment theory.
REFERENCES
1.
Africanvideos
(VID-20200505-WA0003)
2. Abi-Habib,
Maria; Bradsher, Keith (2020). "Poor Countries Borrowed Billions from
China. They Can't Pay It Back". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331.
3.
Chellaney,
Brahma (2017), China’s Debt-Trap Diplomacy. Project Syndicate.
4. China's
era of debt-trap diplomacy (2019), May Pave the Way for something sinister.
5.
Pomfret, John (2018), China's debt
traps around the world are a trademark of its imperialist ambitions. Washington
Post.
7.
https://af.reuters.com/article/africaTech/idAFKCN0WG1BJ
9.
saharareporters.com/2020/07/29/nigerian-lawmakers-uncover-clause-loan-deal-conceding-nigeria’s-sovereignty-china
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