Zambia’s overall debt on loans made by Chinese entities is nearly double what was reported by the former administration under Edgar Lungu, according to a new report from the China Africa Research Initiative (CARI) in the United States. The report puts the actual figure at US$6.6 billion in August 2021….
The African Development Bank delivered a forceful response on Thursday, after World Bank President David Malpass suggested the AfDB was among multinational development banks that are too quick to lend and therefore adding to the debt burden in African nations. Malpass specifically mentioned AfDB loans to Nigeria and South Africa…
The World Bank warns that the debt level in the world’s emerging and developing economies (EMDEs), much of it on the African continent, rose to US$55 trillion in 2018. That marks an eight-year run that has seen the EMDE nations accumulate debt at the largest and fastest rate in nearly…
A China at odds with neighboring Japan denied any concerns over the latter’s engagement of African leaders as they attend the 7th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD), which began Wednesday. That denial followed reports speculating that the Japanese didn’t release information about African leaders attending the conference because…
Christine Lagarde, managing director for the International Monetary Fund (IMF), completed a recent visit to Angola with a warning that the OPEC nation – Africa’s second largest oil producer, behind Nigeria – needs to shift away from its oil reliance. “Angola has come a long way since the end of…
New investigative reporting from the Associated Press finds that hospitals in Kenya continue to hold patients as prisoners until they pay their bills – sometimes in facilities where armed guards are posted. The reporting focuses on Robert Wanyonyi, a shooting victim who remains in Kenyatta National Hospital in Nairobi even…
President Adama Barrow of The Gambia is in Brussels Tuesday for a donor conference to help support the country’s democratic transition from the decades of rule under former dictator Yahya Jammeh. The conference, jointly organized by The Gambia and the European Union, will see Barrow co-chair the meeting alongside High…
China has fired back at the United States after claims by U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson that Beijing’s approach to African development is one of dependency and indebtedness. Tillerson, now in Ethiopia as he begins a five-nation African tour, made the remarks prior to departing the U.S. “We partner…
The island nation of Seychelles has announced two new Marine Protected Areas covering 210,000 square kilometers as part of a novel debt-for-conservation deal designed by The Nature Conservancy. The deal allows the Indian Ocean island to pay off outstanding sovereign debt with $21 million raised by the conservancy, and is…
The International Monetary Fund wrapped up a visit to Benin this week, with a generally favorable assessment of the country’s economic progress despite the need for improvement on reducing poverty. Norbert Toé, the IMF Mission Chief for Benin, led the team in Cotonou to conduct the first review of Benin’s…
Nurses in Swaziland planned a strike on Friday to call attention to drug shortages they say are compromising patient care, including those who need HIV treatment. The nurses plan to march the streets of Mbabane and deliver a petition to Prime Minister Sibusiso Dlamini to force the government to listen…