Wednesday, January 16, 2019

Kenya Railway Loan Terms with China under Fire

Kenya's Daily Nation published on 13 January 2013 a story titled "SGR Pact with China a Risk to Kenyan Sovereignty, Assets" by Edwin Okoth.

The 2014 contract between Kenya and China's state-owned Export-Import Bank for funding construction of the Nairobi to Mombasa railway has become public and contains worrisome terms for Kenya. Failure to repay the loan could result in China taking control of the port of Mombasa or other Kenyan properties from airports to natural resources. The contract also states that its terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of China. The goal was to keep the contract secret. China has strongly denied that the contract is an example of debt-trap diplomacy.