Africa and its ample mineral and oil resources have become the focus of intense geopolitical competition.
Ethiopian Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed arrives at the Beijing Capital International Airport, ahead of the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation in Beijing, China, 04 September 2024. WU HAO/Pool via REUTERS
FILE PHOTO: Sudan's army chief Abdel Fattah al-Burhan arrives at Beijing Capital International Airport before the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation Summit, in Beijing, China September 3, 2024. REUTERS/Florence Lo/Pool/File Photo "I would suspect that it will end up being a bit more low key," she said, adding that China has been"recalcitrant" on the debt issue due to the complex web of state lenders and other institutions involved.
China unveiled a $60 billion financing package at the 2015 FOCAC, and repeated that in 2018. By the summit in Dakar in 2021, Beijing pivoted to trade and investments - a shift largely due to domestic financial pressures, the onset of COVID-19 and a commodities crash that hurt African economies.Chinese lenders approved loans worth $4.61 billion to Africa last year - the first annual increase in seven years - but still significantly below its 2016 peak.
By comparison, Beijing played a lesser part as a lender in Ghana and Chad, which progressed more quickly through restructurings under the G20's Common Framework.
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