Main content

China's debt relief for Africa

What impact is the pandemic having on Chinese investment in Africa?

China has been one of the biggest financiers of infrastructure projects in Africa, but many African economies have been hit hard by the Covid 19 pandemic. So will China prove to be a generous and understanding creditor? Can it even afford to be?

In the edition of the programme we hear from Zhengli Huang, a freelance researcher in Nairobi, on what’s likely to happen to Chinese-financed projects in Africa. Deborah Brautigam, director of the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies, looks at what sort of debt relief China can realistically offer; and Ben Cavender, managing director of the China Market Research Group in Shanghai, talks about whether China could cope with the economic hit of many countries suddenly defaulting on their debt repayments.

Presented by Manuela Saragosa. Produced by Joshua Thorpe.

(Picture: Woman serving Chinese tea in a traditional tea ceremony; Credit: Creative-Family/Getty Images)

Available now

18 minutes

Last on

Wed 17 Jun 2020 07:32GMT

Broadcast

  • Wed 17 Jun 2020 07:32GMT

Podcast