China cancels Democratic Republic of Congo loans as it joins belt and road
- Beijing writes off US$28 million in matured loans and pledges US$17 million of support in a country where Chinese firms already dominate mining sector
- But the African nation owed a relatively small debt to China and still needs to rally more international help, analyst says
While meeting Congolese President Felix Tshisekedi in Kinshasa, Wang said most of the sum pledged, US$15 million, would be channelled towards development projects. The remaining US$2 million would be used to support DRC’s mandate as head of the African Union bloc for the next financial year. China also committed to funding refurbishment of the Congolese foreign ministry headquarters.
DRC took 53 loans worth US$2.4 billion from China between 2000 and 2018, mostly to fund power, transport and mining projects, according to the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.
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President Tshisekedi thanked China for helping DRC to fight the coronavirus and develop its economy, and said he “hopes to restart the joint economic and trade committee of the two countries to promote the cooperation”.