'Debt trap' is a Western cover-up for its power-lust

Editor's note: China and Africa share a longstanding friendship, respecting, appreciating and supporting each other consistently during the past several decades. The results of their cooperation in infrastructure development, agriculture, healthcare and education have been undeniable. However, some Western media and politicians continue to accuse China of debt traps, neo-colonialism and more. CGTN's new series "China-Africa Cooperation: Debunking Western Myths" aims to put the record straight. This is the first episode in the series.

"A win-win partnership or a debt trap?" Debt trap, a term used by many in the West to describe China's loans to Africa, is a misdirection. It's a political cover-up for the most greedy bunch in the world – the vultures in the West.

According to the World Bank's International Debt Statistics, in 2022, Africans owed $655.6 billion to external creditors. China's public lending accounted for less than 10 percent of that. More than 35 percent of that debt is owed to Western banks, asset managers and oil traders. And on average, they charge twice as much interest on their loans.

Christopher Mutsvangwa, secretary for Information and Publicity for the ruling party Zimbabwe African National Union Patriotic Front said "the Western countries, they are the ones who made Africa every 'debt trap' … Before, (for) Africa, if you wanted capital, you [would] go to Paris. It's expensive. You try to go to New York, it's even more expensive. You try to go to London, it's through the roof."

Both the IMF Managing Director Kristalina Georgieva and former World Bank President David Malpass had called on the UK and the U.S. to pass legislation to stop private lenders from blocking debt relief agreements for Africa.

Carlos Lopes, former head of the UN's Economic Commission for Africa from 2012 to 2016, pointed out that "if we did not have access to the possibilities offered by China, the alternative is worse, not better. So, we have to stop the China-bashing narrative because it's really not helpful to Africa."

So, why is the West accusing China of debt-trapping Africa? One word: Fear.

China and Africa have a very close relationship.

As William C. Kirby, T. M. Chang Professor of China Studies at Harvard University and Chairman of the Harvard China Fund said, "the Chinese government has had a rather active Africa policy dating to the 1950s and being one of the leaders of the so-called 'Third World' at that time … It's development assistance now – not simply as gifts, but as investments – in Africa, in some ways are exporting things that China does better than any place else."

Their cooperation started soon after the establishment of the People's Republic of China and deepend over the decades. Since the establishment of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in 2000, Chinese investments in Africa have helped build or upgrade more than 10,000 kilometers of railways, nearly 100,000 km of highways, 1,000 bridges, 100 ports and 66,000 km of power transmission and distribution. More than 4.5 million jobs were created for Africa.

The West sees China's long-last friendship and increasing investments as China expanding its influence to challenge Western dominance in Africa. They are wrong at first place.

Yet, they fear that.

To the West, the Cold War lives on in Africa. "Debt trap" is how the West covers up its greed and politicking. It seeks to distract the African countries from projects that can create real progress in Africa and drive a wedge between China and Africa. By trying to undermine China's influence, the West wants to hold on to its dorminance in the region without putting in real efforts that benefit Africans.

But, the Africans aren't indulging them.

Macky Sall, former Senegal President, said that "When you look at the nature of the relationship, it shows that Africans don't buy into such narrative. In fact, when you look more closely, the Chinese loans, or at least the loans that Senegal has taken from China, to build infrastructures, are all at extremely low interest rates … The Thiès-Touba highway expressway, for example, was financed over 20 to 22 years … Yet, only 3.5 years into the loan, the construction was completed and the expressway began operating. So, for about two to three years, we earned revenue before even starting the loan repayment."

China's investments in Africa is not just about financial success. It's about creating real value to help Africa develop.

Branko Milanović, senior scholar at the Stone Center on Socio-Economic Inequality at the Graduate Center at City University of New York Graduate Center, claimed that "What I actually like about Chinese approach oftentimes is that actually it is able to think about the grander scale of things. So, we don't simply do small projects, we're actually trying to think of the projects that would actually have a huge advantage in bringing into the sort of market economy production in large parts of the world."

Hannah Ryder, the CEO of Development Reimagined (DR), pointed out that the World Bank has not funded an independent new rail project since 2002. American organizations funded only three infrastructure projects in 2023. Chinese organizations funded nine. "We cannot distinguish China's role from the gap it is filling in a multilateral system that does not meet our needs," said Ryder.

And that's good. After being ignored by the West for the past several decades, it's time to help Africa achieve its own growth, instead of been victimized by the ghost of the past.

True friendship is built upon mutual benefits, not upon lust for power. Accusing China of creating "debt trap" can't stop the West's declining influence in Africa. What it can do and is doing is making the West the butt of the joke.

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