China rejects claims of taking over Ugandan Airport over Loan default

Sahara Reporters

China has rejected allegations that it may take over Uganda’s sole international airport if the country fails to service a $200 million loan for the expansion of the facility.
Reuters reports that a parliamentary probe last month concluded that China had imposed onerous conditions on the loan, including potential forfeiture of the airport in case of default, sparking public outrage.

The Chinese embassy in Uganda, however, said on Sunday that, “The malicious allegation that ‘Uganda surrenders key assets for China cash’ has no factual basis and is ill-intended only to distort the good relations that China enjoys with developing countries including Uganda.”
It added that, “Not a single project in Africa has ever been confiscated by China because of failing to pay Chinese loans.”
China has been accused by Western countries of luring poor countries into “debt traps” which they are unable to repay. Cash-strapped borrowers have been pushed to stake sovereign assets such as airports and seaports to access credit.
The Uganda loan was said to have been secured in 2015 from China’s Exim Bank, one of the many credit lines Uganda has acquired from China over the last 15 years to fund infrastructure projects including roads and power plants.
The loan agreement has not been made public…