Sunday, February 3, 2019

China's Financing of Ethiopia's Satellite Comes with Strings Attached

Africa Times, an independent online news service for sub-Saharan Africa, posted on 6 December 2018 an article titled "Ethiopia's Satellite Plans Come with Strings Attached" by Monica Gitau, a freelance journalist based in Kenya.

Ethiopia announced that China will finance 75 percent of a $8 million project to launch its first earth observatory satellite. The concessionary loan is tied to Chinese materials and companies. The article coincides with recent reports of concern, usually from Western sources, about Chinese-financed and constructed telecommunications projects around the world that could serve China's intelligence interests as in the alleged case of bugging the African Union headquarters in Addis Ababa.