Global Policy published on 11 March 2025 a commentary titled "America, First in Africa? -- How and Why Badmouthing China in Africa Did Not Profit the U.S. under Trump 1.0" by Afa'anwi Che, Xi'an Jiaotong-Liverpool University, China.
US criticism of China's policies in Africa as exploitative during the first Trump administration failed to deter African leaders from Beijing and earned no friends for the United States.
Boston University Global Development Policy Center published in April 2023 a study titled "Demystifying Chinese Overseas Lending and Development Finance" by Oyintarelado Moses, Cecilia Springer, and Kevin P. Gallagher.
The study found no evidence that China lends with the end goal of seizing a strategic public asset or gaining strategic leverage in the event of non-repayment. Empirical evidence shows that China's overseas lending and development finance is associated with economic growth that benefits host countries. However, this finance can pose social, environmental, and debt sustainability risks.
The Africa Report published on 15 August 2022 a commentary titled "Is Africa Undercutting Its Sovereignty with China's Debt-trap Diplomacy?" by Sally Boyani.
To the extent African countries get into difficulty with China over debt, these are choices African leaders have made freely. African sovereignty was undercut over a century ago but African leaders need to be careful not to lease their independence for the next 100 years.
The Conversation published on 16 May 2022 a commentary titled "Mombasa Port: How Kenya's Auditor-General Misread China's Standard Gauge Railway Contracts" by Deborah Brautigam.
In 2018, a leaked letter from the former Kenyan auditor-general's office sparked a rumor that Kenya had staked Mombasa Port as collateral for the Chinese-financed Standard Gauge Railway, leading to charges of debt trap diplomacy. A detailed study by the China-Africa Research Initiative concluded that the rumor stemmed from a misreading by the former auditor-general, who mistakenly labelled the ports authority as a borrower, responsible for repaying the Chinese railway loans.
AidData published in February 2022 a study titled "Is Beijing a Predatory Lender? New Evidence from a Previously Undisclosed Loan Contract for the Entebbe International Airport Upgrading and Expansion Project" by Brad Parks, Ammar A. Malik, and Alex Wooley.
AidData's publication of the final, unredacted version of a controversial $200 million loan contract between China Export-Import Bank and the government of Uganda for the Entebbe International Airport Upgrading and Expansion Project reveals that the airport itself is not a source of collateral that the lender can seize in the event of default.
Instead, China Export-Import Bank required the borrower to provide a fully liquid cash deposit in an escrow account that the lender can unilaterally seize in the event the government of Uganda defaults on its repayment obligations. AidData concluded that Chinese lenders have no desire to seize assets but they are looking out for their own interests. This loan contract does not support the charge of predatory lending but does contain intrusive conditions.
The Diplomat published on 11 February 2022 a commentary titled "African Opportunities in China-Africa Relations" by Ndidi Akahara, London/Abuja based Africa analyst.
The author argues that if African countries fall into excessive debt with China, African leaders and not China bear the largest share of responsibility. Africans have the capacity to chart their own political and economic paths.
Bloomberg published on 26 February 2021 a commentary titled "Djibouti Is a Flashpoint in the US-China Cold War" by Hal Brands.
The author concludes that the United States and its European allies are still the security partners of choice for Djibouti and most African countries in spite of the inroads that China has made in recent years.
The South China Morning Post published on 21 February 2021 an article titled "'Debt-trap Diplomacy' a Myth: No Evidence China Pushes Poor Nations to Seize Their Assets, Says Academic" by Jevans Nyabiage.
While there is no evidence of China exercising debt trap diplomacy in Africa, Beijing does hold about 20 percent of the external debt of African countries and recently raised the possibility of debt-for-equity swaps.
