China-Africa arms trade: Zambia largest recipient of Chinese loans for military gear, study says

Of the US$1.5 billion worth of financing for arms deals advanced by China to African countries between 2000 and 2017, US$600 million went to Zambia, report says

Most of the money was spent on buying Chinese planes for the Zambian air force, it says

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Zambian President Edgar Lungu meets workers from Aviation Industry Corp of China in 2018. Photo: AFP

Published: 9:00am, 3 Oct 2020Updated: 9:09pm, 3 Oct 2020

Zambia is the largest recipient of Chinese loans for military procurement in Africa, according to a new study.

Of the US$1.5 billion worth of such financing advanced by Beijing to African nations between 2000 and 2017, US$600 million went to Zambia, Jyhjong Hwang, a China-Africa researcher at Ohio State University in the US, said in a report.

Unlike other African countries, like the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan, the southern nation is a country that “suffers neither war nor civil unrest … nor is it a geostrategic hotspot for world superpowers”, like Djibouti, where many countries, including the United States, Japan, France and China have set up military bases.

Most of the money, which funded the procurement of aircraft for the Zambian Air Force, came from China Exim Bank, the state-owned aerospace and defence giant Aviation Industry Corporation of China and China Poly Technologies.

China has supplied a range of aircraft to Zambia, including J-6 fighter jets, MA60 and Y-12 transporters and combat helicopters, and also provided pilot training.

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