• He said the repayment by Kenya to China Exim Bank is very normal and has not experienced any problems.
• Kenyan Treasury CS Ukur Yatani said Kenya has not accumulated any debt arrears in decades to suggest difficulties in debt servicing.
Image: BRIAN OTIENO
Kenya has not defaulted on its SGR loan repayment, a Chinese government official has confirmed.
Director general of African Affairs in the Chinese Foreign Affairs ministry Wu Peng on Tuesday evening said Kenya’s repayment of the China Exim Bank loan is very normal.
“Recently in Kenya, they said that China has slapped some fines for defaulting on Chinese SGR loan. It is not true,” Peng said.
Media reports on October 13 reported that Chinese banks slapped Sh1.312 billion fine on Kenya after it defaulted on the loan repayment, a matter that was quickly refuted by the National Treasury.
Kenya’s 480km Standard Gauge Railway between the two biggest cities of Mombasa and Nairobi was built at a cost of USD3.6 billion (approximately ShSh429 billion at the current rate) by the China Roads and Bridge Company.
It is Kenya’s biggest infrastructure project and China Exim Bank loaned the country Sh378 billion to cover its cost.
Speaking when he hosted African journalists to a banquet at St Regis Hotel in Beijing, China, on Tuesday evening, Peng said there is a lot of misinformation being circulated that does not help the relationship between China and Kenya, among other African countries.
“Common dictates suggest that for there to be a fine, there must be defaulting. But my very reliable information source told me Kenya did not default on the loan,” he said.
He said the repayment by Kenya to China Exim Bank is very normal.
“The repayment has no problem at all,” Peng stressed.
Kenyan Treasury CS Ukur Yatani said Kenya has not accumulated any debt arrears in decades to suggest difficulties in debt servicing.
“We wish to state categorically, that Kenya has never defaulted on the settlement of its debt service obligations to any of its creditors, nor has any creditor filed or reported any claim of default on debt service payments on facilities extended to the Government of Kenya,” Yatani said.
“As a country accessing international financial markets to raise resources, Kenya undergoes frequent independent sovereign rating reviews whose outcomes are published widely. At no time has Kenya been flagged as a country defaulting on its external debt obligations.”
On Tuesday, Peng said before publishing such information, one must get the facts right first.
“This kind of false information really hurts the people-to-people understanding of each other. That is very irresponsible,” Peng noted.
He said in any relationship, trust must first be established hence there must be mutual trust between China and Africa for the relationship to be mutually beneficial.
China has been pushing for sincere cooperation between them and other developing countries in Africa and other continents in a bid to ensure common development and shared prosperity.
Chinese President Xi Jinping stressed this during the 20th Communist Party of China national congress held in Beijing between October 16 and October 22, where he was elected the party’s general secretary for the third five-year term ending in 2027.
“China is prepared to invest more resources in global development cooperation. It is committed to narrowing the North-South gap and supporting and assisting other developing countries in accelerating development,” Xi said at the opening ceremony of the congress on October 16.
Lately, there has been criticism about China-Africa cooperation. Peng said although China welcomes constructive criticism from partners and friends, there is some criticism that has hidden agendas.
He said the ‘debt trap’ debate is not the main issue that evokes criticism but some agenda being pushed by the West so as to antagonize the bilateral relationship between China and African countries.
“Actually, from the year 2000 when the Focac (Forum for China-Africa Cooperation) was set up, the relationship between China and Africa developed very well,” said Peng.
Since then China-Africa bilateral trade has grown almost 20 times, according to the director general, and investment has grown rapidly.
“Our products in Africa are now almost everywhere and more African businessmen are doing business in China,” Peng said.
On the political side, China and Africa have supported each other on international fora and have been protecting their common interests.
Peng said the most important thing for developing countries is to believe in themselves to be able to cope without unnecessary help from outside.
“All men are created equal. No one is smarter than the other. If someone else can do it, why can’t we?
“We must trust ourselves through hard work. We can find a development plan suitable for our situation,” Peng challenged.