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Europe Says<a href="https://www.europesays.com/2019605/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.europesays.com/2019605/</a> Turkey’s TPAO Plans Energy Exploration Off Northern Cyprus <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/AfricanNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AfricanNations</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Azerbaijan" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Azerbaijan</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/BarbarosHayrettinPau015fa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BarbarosHayrettinPau015fa</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/BlackSea" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BlackSea</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/cyprus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#cyprus</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/EnergyExploration" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#EnergyExploration</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/EnergyResources" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#EnergyResources</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/eu" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#eu</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Iraq" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Iraq</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/KKTC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#KKTC</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Libya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Libya</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/NorthernCyprus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#NorthernCyprus</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/OffshoreDrilling" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#OffshoreDrilling</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Oruu00e7Reis" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Oruu00e7Reis</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/RepublicOfCyprus" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#RepublicOfCyprus</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Russia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Russia</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/SeismicSurveys" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#SeismicSurveys</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/somalia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#somalia</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/TPAO" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TPAO</a> <a href="https://pubeurope.com/tags/Turkey" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Turkey</a>

Headlines AfricaTrump sparks backlash after remarking about Congo <a href="http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TKDfTs" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/TKDfTs</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/TrumpBacklash" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#TrumpBacklash</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/CongoComments" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CongoComments</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/IgnoranceAwareness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#IgnoranceAwareness</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/AfricanNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AfricanNations</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/Congo" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Congo</a>

Headlines AfricaAfrica: African Nations Prepare for What's to Come After Pause On U.S. Aid: [VOA] Nairobi, Kenya -- African governments are gearing up for what is to come following the 90-day pause on most U.S.-funded foreign aid as they worry about the potential effects. <a href="http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/THtT8v" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">http://newsfeed.facilit8.network/THtT8v</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/Africa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Africa</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/Aid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Aid</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/USForeignAid" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#USForeignAid</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/AfricanNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AfricanNations</a> <a href="https://journa.host/tags/GlobalImpact" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#GlobalImpact</a>

DoomsdaysCWThis article does mention <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Mining</a>! Not surprising!Promises and Pitfalls: <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/China" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#China</a>’s Financing of the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AtewaBauxite" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AtewaBauxite</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Mining" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Mining</a> Project in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Ghana" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Ghana</a>Author: Angela Benefo & Michael Addaney Date Published: July 11, 2021 "The <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AtewaForestReserve" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AtewaForestReserve</a> in Ghana is a possible site for the development of an integrated <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BauxiteAluminum" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BauxiteAluminum</a> mine through a Chinese resource-backed loan. Despite the opportunities for infrastructure development presented by the loan, this project carries significant risks. This article draws attention to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/environmental" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#environmental</a> sustainability challenges and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DebtTrap" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DebtTrap</a> conundrum associated with the proposed arrangement."President Xi Jinping has touted China’s recently unveiled Five-Year Plan as his country’s pursuit of ‘ecological civilization,’ a vision of promoting environmental sustainability and enhanced human-ecological interactions within and beyond China. However, China’s ability to promote ecological civilization in developing countries in line with this Plan will be challenging due to China’s generally poor environmental protection record in such contexts. For instance, while China claims it is prioritizing environmental sustainability in Africa, the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/extractive" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#extractive</a> projects initiated by its private sector do not align with this stated goal. These projects serve China’s broader interests and often create environmental consequences and problematic debt, therefore requiring a more careful analysis. A Chinese-backed bauxite-aluminum mine planned for a forest reserve in Ghana highlights the debt-trap concerns and environmental sustainability challenges created by some Chinese investments.The Challenges of <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ChineseLoans" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ChineseLoans</a> across <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Africa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Africa</a>"China continues to play an enormous role in financing massive infrastructure projects in Africa. As the world’s largest official <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/creditor" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#creditor</a>, China and its subsidiaries have invested billions of dollars across Africa’s energy, transportation, and mining sectors. Despite China’s indispensable contributions to infrastructure development in sub-Saharan Africa, there are valid concerns over how African countries will repay these massive debts to China."Compared to other official lenders such as the International Monetary Fund (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/IMF" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#IMF</a>) and the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WorldBank" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WorldBank</a>, Chinese loans are less challenging to acquire. For instance, the IMF monitors the amount of debt held by a country and will not provide more loans until a country seeks debt relief. Chinese lenders have more lenient terms and allow low-income African countries to borrow large amounts without much accountability—issuing loans which may be considered too risky by the IMF and other international lenders."Historically, China has entered into strategic agreements with developing countries to finance development projects while collateralizing the country’s natural resources. The growing demand for external finance for important infrastructure projects—some of which are overly ambitious and unsustainable—poses great risks to African economies, which risk losing their collateral and the possibility of debt distress."Chinese loans are often characterized by lack of transparency. Chinese financiers set tough conditions for financing large infrastructure projects, taking advantage of vulnerable African leaders desperate to complete ambitious developmental projects. For instance, the construction of a $10 billion port project in <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Tanzania" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Tanzania</a> was suspended after careful consideration of the terms and conditions of the Chinese loan. The project, which the former president John Magufuli called 'exploitative and awkward,' would have rented the port to the Chinese government for ninety-nine years as repayment."In Ghana, Chinese financing over the past two decades has spanned various sectors including power, information communication technology (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/ICT" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#ICT</a>), <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/transportation" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#transportation</a>, and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/agriculture" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#agriculture</a>. Chinese foreign direct investment is estimated to be three times the size of EU countries’ investment in Ghana. Some of these loans are backed by resources such as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/cocoa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#cocoa</a> and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/oil" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#oil</a>. For instance, <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Sinohydro" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Sinohydro</a> has allegedly agreed to deliver $2 billion worth of infrastructure projects across the country, which Ghana would pay back with proceeds from the sale of refined bauxite. An estimated $646 million of the initial $2 billion loan have been approved for disbursement. The Ghanaian government also signed a loan commitment of $550 million in 2019. Entering these types of agreements with China demands careful consideration by the Ghanaian government."Read more: <a href="https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/07/11/promises-and-pitfalls-chinas-financing-of-the-atewa-bauxite-mining-project-in-ghana/" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://gjia.georgetown.edu/2021/07/11/promises-and-pitfalls-chinas-financing-of-the-atewa-bauxite-mining-project-in-ghana/</a><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LoanSharks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LoanSharks</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AfricanNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AfricanNations</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/DebtColonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#DebtColonialism</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Colonialism" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Colonialism</a>

DoomsdaysCWHere we go... There's always a dark side when there's money involved... And when loans come due!Dangers and Opportunities as <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/China" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#China</a>’s <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Loans" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Loans</a> to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Africa" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Africa</a> Come DueTimothy Ditter | Monday, March 18, 2024"Many African economies are facing a period of serious <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/economic" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#economic</a> distress with a very different character from the debt crisis of the 1980s and 1990s. This time, the People’s Republic of China (<a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/PRC" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#PRC</a>) is a major player, and a dramatic decline in PRC lending has compounded economic shocks in the aftermath of Russia’s invasion of Ukraine—just as the continent tries to recover from the pandemic. From 2001 to 2022, PRC financial institutions provided more than $170 billion in credit, loans, and grants to <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/AfricanNations" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#AfricanNations</a>, primarily to fund infrastructure projects tied to the PRC’s Belt and Road Initiative. But new PRC loans to African governments plummeted from $28.4 billion in 2016 to less than $2 billion in 2020 and have continued to decline. "African governments are awakening to the fact that opaque PRC lending practices and problematic <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LoanTerms" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LoanTerms</a> have rendered already fragile economies at an increased risk of default. However, this moment of peril also provides an opportunity for African economies to build resilience by diversifying their economic partnerships and seeking out lenders with better terms and different motivations."I and other CNA analysts from our China Studies and Strategy and Policy Analysis programs have just completed a series of studies on trends in the involvement of the PRC across major sectors in Africa in the context of global shocks. These include the military, mining, infrastructure, and financial sectors. We recently released the report PRC Lending in Africa: Impacts in a Time of Global Shocks. This component of the series focuses on PRC lending to nine African countries. In some cases, PRC loans helped African nations build or upgrade much-needed infrastructure. However, we also found a wide range of PRC lending practices that have contributed to the financial distress and increased the risk of default for African countries ravaged by the global shocks of the last few years. These practices include high interest rates, unfavorable terms, and uncompetitive contracting, most of which is hidden from the public in opaque contracts. "And when African countries struggle to repay those loans, PRC lenders have taken inflexible positions that have delayed and hardened terms in renegotiations. "China’s Unforgiving Lenders"Today’s debt troubles have some of their roots in the loan agreements signed when the PRC was eager to plow its excess savings into foreign loans. Often these agreements made the loans due in just 10 years, compared to up to 35 years for loans from the World Bank. Interest rates are often higher, too. For example, the Export–Import Bank of China charged Djibouti a fully commercial rate for the loan to build the Ethiopia-Djibouti railway, higher than multinational lenders like the World Bank charge for loans. The PRC is <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Djibouti" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Djibouti</a>’s largest creditor, holding approximately $1.4 billion in debt, equal to about 45 percent of the country’s GDP. In January 2023, Djibouti suspended debt payments to the PRC, making it the second African nation—after <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Zambia" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Zambia</a>—to do so."Often these agreements require loan recipients to give business to PRC contractors—without competitive bidding. The Export–Import Bank of China contract with <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Kenya" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Kenya</a> to finance the Standard Gauge Railway connecting the port city of Mombasa to the Great Rift Valley stipulated that most construction materials would be purchased from the PRC. The project ended up much more costly than anticipated, increasing from 220 billion to 327 billion Kenyan shillings over a period of three years. The Kenya Court of Appeal found that 'the project’s design was manipulated to inflate costs while construction and supervision charges were also overpriced.' Such agreements have helped make China’s construction firms dominant on the continent. A University of London study found that of the 32 major international contractor companies working major construction projects in Ethiopia in 2017, 80 percent were PRC contractors."Because PRC loan agreements tend to be opaque, the public is usually not even aware of these loan terms. In the case of the Standard Gauge Railway, the loan with the Export–Import Bank of China was signed in 2014, but details about the terms only became publicly known in 2022, preventing oversight from Kenyan politicians or the public. In some cases, those opaque agreements and <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/unethical" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#unethical</a> business practices may contribute to corruption. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China funded a dam project in Angola while ignoring various potential red flags, including the involvement of the daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. Isabel dos Santos was awarded the $4.5 billion contract to construct the dam by her father’s government in 2015. As of 2023, Angola holds more PRC debt than any other country in Africa. And the <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/WorldBank" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#WorldBank</a> listed Angola as one of seven African countries that it considered to be at high risk of debt distress in 2020. "Our research found that when struggling African nations need to renegotiate their loans, PRC lenders have resisted standard <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LoanForgiveness" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LoanForgiveness</a> practices and have slowed debt negotiations. The PRC does not follow typical debt negotiation protocols used by multilateral institutions such as the World Bank. Instead, the PRC prefers bilateral negotiations, often behind closed doors, and strongly resists cutting the total principal owed on loans. Rather, PRC lenders favor extending repayment periods or holding infrastructure as collateral on loans. This has an impact on negotiations with other creditors as well, since lenders want concessions to be shared fairly. Recent negotiations to restructure <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/Chad" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#Chad</a>’s debt with a committee of five bilateral creditors took nearly two years. World Bank and IMF officials claimed that lenders from China unnecessarily delayed the debt deal, an accusation that has come up in debt negotiations with other African countries."In the long run, however, this difficult period could have an upside for African nations. The reduction in PRC loans provides an opportunity for African countries to diversify, considering new economic partnerships on more favorable terms, with greater transparency and good governance. African nations can use multilateral negotiations to seek out lenders operating with different motivations, lenders that can help them build domestic economic strength and resilience for the future."Source: <a href="https://www.cna.org/our-media/indepth/2024/03/china-loans-to-africa" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" translate="no" target="_blank">https://www.cna.org/our-media/indepth/2024/03/china-loans-to-africa</a><a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BeltAndRoadInitiative" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BeltAndRoadInitiative</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/BRI" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#BRI</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/LoanSharks" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#LoanSharks</a> <a href="https://kolektiva.social/tags/CancelAllDebt" class="mention hashtag" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">#CancelAllDebt</a>

Al Jazeera (unofficial)Rice is the staple food for almost half the world’s population. Consumption is increasing in many African countries, but producers cannot keep up with demand... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RI1XQIdiRMU" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">S Korea to share rice project with African nations</a>

Al Jazeera (unofficial)Russian President Vladimir Putin has told African leaders that Moscow will replace Ukrainian grain exports and supply free grain to six African nations withi... <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2AxEQN8rw9I" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer" target="_blank">Putin promises African nations free grain, blasts ‘hypocritical’ West</a>

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