Debt Trap Diplomacy-China Eyes Zambia’s ZESCO over Defaulted Loans

Zambia’s sovereignty is under threat after it emerged that the country is in talks with China over defaulted debt that could see the lender take over the national power utility ZESCO in Zambia, a report reveals.

The report; “Bonds, Bills and ever Bigger Debts,” published on 3rd September notes that a major worry of the IMF and US is that China’s BRI strategy is first to encourage indebtedness, and then to take over strategic national assets when debtors default on repayments.

This is not the first time Zambia has defaulted in repaying the Chinese loans as China continues to take over strategic assets in Africa. Zambia risks being a Chinese colony or rather a Chinese property at the rate its loan appetite is growing with more African countries following in line.

The Chinese debt trap has caught more African countries in the last decade despite a history of the lender taking over national assets that could easily freeze the economy.

Western countries have advised Africa against signing for the loans labeling them as “predatory infrastructure financing” or “debt-trap diplomacy”.

African governments can barely account for every dollar of the loans and their taxpayers continue to feel the heat as frustrations stem in with bitterness brewing between Africans and China’s nationals.

A good case scenario is that of a Chinese being recorded insulting Kenyans and the Presidency, which was shortly followed by the case of two Chinese nationals engaging in a fist fight with a Ugandan government official over illegal sand mining.

Pakistan, Montenegro, Djibouti, Sri Lanka, and the Maldives to name a few are countries that have witnessed the hefty consequences of defaulting on the loans after having surrendered national strategic assets to China’s state-controlled firms.

Lack of accountability and transparency in China’s loans to other countries are creating uncertainty among Kenyans leaving them to their own imagination of what could happen in case they fail to pay.

The continent is treading on a very risky path, as China continues to gain more leverage on it, probably to position itself better on exploiting Africa’s natural resources. However, more danger lies ahead as Africa-China deals continue to brew hate with African taxpayers feeling undermined and exploited while viewing the Chinese as a threat.