Commentary
African countries should not be left with a “tremendous debt that they cannot repay,” U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said during his visit to the continent in April 2021.
The Chinese Communist Party (CCP) is outpacing the United States in investment and trade in Africa. The ongoing lockdowns in Shanghai and other major cities, paired with the slowing Chinese economy, provide an opportunity for America to increase its engagement with Africa, breaking China’s grip on the continent.
Since 2000, the CCP has loaned over $148 billion to Africa. This makes China the largest lender to Africa and the leading creditor in 32 African nations. Most of the loaned money has gone to mineral and hydrocarbon-rich countries such as Zambia with its large deposits of copper, Kenya, Nigeria, Ghana, Angola, Algeria, Mozambique, Egypt, and Sudan, which have oil and gas, and South Africa and Tanzania, which both have gold.
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