China is set to cancel 23 interest-free loans to 17 African countries and redirect US$10bn of its International Monetary Fund reserves to nations on the continent. According to a post on the website of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the People’s Republic of China, Minister Wang Yi announced the cancellations in a meeting last week of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation. However, the ministry’s post did not provide details on the value of the loans, which it said matured at the end of last year, nor did it state which countries owed the money. The announcement by Beijing comes amid growing criticism for its lending practices to poorer countries which accounts for almost 40 percent of the bilateral and private-creditor debt that the world’s poorest countries need to service this year, according to the World Bank.
