Temitope Ajayi
On the margins of the recently concluded World Bank/IMF Spring Meeting, Princeton University organised a two-day conference on ‘Politics of Sovereign Finance’ that brought together academics, policy makers, activists and senior officials of the World Bank, International Monetary Fund, transnational financial institutions like JPMorgan, HSBC and other multilateral institutions.
In my interaction with Layna Mosley, Professor of Politics and International Affairs, who is also the Director of Princeton University Sovereign Finance Lab and other participants, I made a point that a strong sense of Chinaphobia came out of the presentations by individuals and institutions that represent Western hegemony in the way and manner they made China loans to governments in Africa a central point.
Africa countries have taken loans from China worth over $170 billion dollars from 2000-2022 according to available data.
Using Zambia and Sri Lanka as examples of how China loans are bad for Africa and other countries was too far-fetched. Two countries’ experiences with Chinese loans out of many are meagre and statistically insignificant to arrive at a conclusion that China loan is a trap for developing countries.
The Politics of Sovereign Finance is more about geo-political influence and a new wave of scrambling and partitioning of Africa.
While I believe China is making her loans easier for governments in Africa to obtain with fewer conditions and on more favourable terms, it is also a fact that China is using her concessionary loans in Africa to gain more influence and have access to cheaper resources.
For me, the issue around Chinese loans to governments in Africa is like a case of a badly hungry man seeking who, among his friends, is available to offer him food. For a man dying of hunger, it is always a choice between who brings him food first, not the supposed best friend telling him the best time for him to eat.
I also made the point that unlike the West that continues to treat Africa with disrespect, and sometimes disdain, Africans can see the roads, bridges, rail roads, hydro power plants, irrigation dams, airports and the seaports that are built with China loans.
It can be said that the West is fretting because Africa’s dalliance with China is an indication of the diminution of its influence on the continent.
*Temitope Ajayi is a Senior Special Assistant to the President on Media and Publicity