As Cameroon prepares for its presidential election in 2025, longtime leader Paul Biya went to Beijing to participate in the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC). The the Cameroonian media outlet Guardian Post wrote in its September 4, 2024 editorial, under the headline "China Wooing Africa with 'Debt Trap' Loans!" that it should be acknowledge that Biya, "whether he goes to China to beg or not," is "freeing" Cameroon from "the neo-colonial strings of France." The outlet also stressed that Biya should "eat" with the Chinese with the "long spoon," per the adage "If you eat with the devil, you need a (very) long spoon so that you can keep your distance." It added: "Especially given the penal conditions of its loans, which in some African countries have become debt traps with the lenders managing confiscated strategic and sensitive national infrastructure."
Chinese President Xi Jinping meets with Cameroonian President Paul Biya, who is in Beijing for the 2024 Summit of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing, September 4, 2024. (Source: Xinhua)
Below is the article from the Guardian Post:[1]
'Africa Is A Key Node In Beijing's Belt And Road Initiative'
"President Paul Biya is one of the African leaders invited for the 2024 Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC) summit, which opens in Beijing today [September 4, 2024] …
"The ninth summit is holding in a context in which African leaders are seeking funds for big-ticket infrastructure projects as they eye mounting great power competition over resources and influence on the continent.
"China has expanded ties with African nations in the past decade, furnishing them with billions in loans that have helped build infrastructure but also sometimes stoked controversy by saddling countries with huge debts.
"China has sent hundreds of thousands of workers to Africa to build its mega projects, while tapping the continent's vast natural resources, including copper, gold, lithium and rare earth minerals.
"Beijing said this week's China-Africa Forum will be its largest diplomatic event since the COVID-19 pandemic, with leaders of South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya and other nations confirmed to attend and dozens of delegations expected.
"Africa is a key node in Beijing's Belt and Road Initiative, a massive infrastructure project and central pillar of President Xi Jinping's bid to expand China's clout overseas.
"The project has channeled much-needed investment to African countries for projects like railways, ports, and hydroelectric plants.
'China Is Also Resisting To Offer Debt Relief'
"Western critics are charging Beijing with saddling nations with debt and funding infrastructure projects that damage the environment.
"But in diplomatic circles, there are reports that China is not interested in mega projects anymore. It has not even fulfilled its pledge from the previous summit in 2021 to buy $300 billion of goods from Africa.
"China is also resisting to offer debt relief, even as some African nations have struggled to repay their loans; in some cases being forced to slash spending on vital public services or using natural resources.
"Since the last China-Africa forum six years ago, the world has experienced a lot of changes, including COVID-19, wars in Ukraine and Gaza, geopolitical tension and other economic challenges that have negatively impacted African economy.
"According to diplomatic sources, African leaders in China while seeking for more loans, nonetheless, will also seek assurances on the progress of incomplete Chinese-funded infrastructure projects, such as a railway designed to link the greater East African Region.
"Some 61 percent of Cameroon's borrowing, which is constantly on the radar of debt distress, is owed to China which has a record of delayed projects in Cameroon such as the Douala-Yaounde express way, just to mention one.
"In the past, China unveiled a minor debt relief package for 17 African countries, with Cameroon among them, writing off 23 interest-free.
"Diplomatic watchers of the economy noted that the interest-free loans, totaling just 5 percent of debts 'account for a tiny share of China's loan portfolio in Africa and does not have any impact on the much larger commercial and concessional obligations that are due, and which Western countries have classified as debt trap.'
"But the Chinese argue that 'it has become a routine for Beijing to cancel mature and interest-free loans which account for a small fraction of Chinese loans to Africa. It is also in line with China's foreign policy to help African nations that have been hit hard by the COVID-19 pandemic and global economic difficulties.'
'Biya Should 'Eat' With The Chinese With The Proverbial 'Long Spoon''
"Washington has, however, warned against what it sees as Beijing's malign influence. In 2022, the White House said China sought to 'advance its own narrow commercial and geopolitical interests [and] undermine transparency and openness.'
"Beijing insists it does not want a new cold war with Washington but rather seeks a 'win-win' cooperation, promoting development while profiting from boosted trade with Africa.
"Their Chinese interest, to quote one of their scholars, is 'not just giving Africa help...we are just partners with Africa, while they are developing. We are also benefiting from it.'
"One thing which President Biya should be applauded for, whether he goes to China to beg or not, is that Cameroon, like other African countries, is expanding its global links, asserting its independence and freeing from the neo-colonial strings of France.
"Our position at The Guardian Post is that President Biya should 'eat' with the Chinese with the proverbial 'long spoon,' especially given the penal conditions of its loans, which in some African countries have become debt traps with the lenders managing confiscated strategic and sensitive national infrastructure."
[1] Theguardianpostcameroon.com/post/3982/en/editorial-china-wooing-africa-with-debt-trap-loans-, September 4, 2024. This article was first published in The Guardian Post issue 3218, September 3, 2024.
