According to the South China Morning Post, between 2000 and 2020, China has signed 27 debt deals worth $3.5 billion (Rs 271 billion) with eight African countries for military spending. Much of this money was spent on the development of military aircraft, equipment, training and housing units for the army and police. 60 percent of the total amount went to Zambia alone. Zambia has already taken a huge loan from China to build highways, dams and airports.
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Zambia is the third largest debtor on the continent after Ethiopia and Angola. Other African countries that have taken military loans from China include Ghana, Cameroon, Tanzania, Zimbabwe, Sudan, Sierra Leone, Namibia. According to the Global Development Center, lenders include the National Policy Bank, the Export-Import Bank of China and several Chinese companies such as the Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC) and Poly Technologies.
Zambia took the biggest debt
Zambia is China’s biggest recipient of loans for defense equipment, said lead researcher Jihjong Hwang of the ‘Chinese Loans to Africa Database’ at Boston University. Despite taking the highest debt, Zambia does not buy its fighter jets primarily from China. The country’s current fleet includes aircraft from Italy, Russia and Sweden. Zambia continues to seek help from the US for tasks such as peacekeeping missions or border security.
