Now it's promising to write off a small part of that debt as countries on the continent battle the Covid-19 pandemic . China will exempt certain African countries from interest-free loans due by the end of this year, President Xi Jinping said late Wednesday. But analysts have pointed out that interest-free loans comprise just a fraction of the debt that African countries owe China. In the early 2000s, such arrangements "made up a significant percentage of Chinese loans," the report said. But the "vast majority" of loans China has extended to Africa recently — including concessional and commercial loans — have never been considered for cancellation, the report added.

Source: CNN June 19, 2020 09:11 UTC