Boston University’s Global China Initiative (BUGCI) reported on Tuesday that Chinese sovereign lending fell last year to its lowest level in two decades. The research group identified African nations’ struggles with debt crises and China’s own economic challenges as likely causes of the downturn.
BUGCI reported that Chinese lenders provided African nations with around $170 billion from 2000 to 2022. Investment peaked in 2016, three years after President Xi Jinping announced the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). Western researchers have accused China of burdening African nations with unreasonable debt through various lending and infrastructure projects. Economic struggles have caused the China Development Bank and Export-Import Bank of China to refocus on the domestic economy, and the institutions have restructured foreign investment to favor neighboring countries. BUGCI researchers also noted that recent BRI loans emphasized improving social and environmental factors in target countries.
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