CHINA & AFRICAN LOAN DEFALTERS!

•  China To Takeover Uganda's Only International Airport Over Loan Default: Reports.
• Uganda is likely to lose its Entebbe International Airport to the Communist country over its failure to pay back a loan that was intended for its development.

Another nation has fallen prey to what is popularly called China's 'debt trap' strategy. Uganda is likely to lose its Entebbe International Airport to the Communist country over its failure to pay back a loan that was ironically intended for its development.

China’s Export-Import (EXIM) Bank lent Uganda $207 million at 2% upon disbursement in 2015 for the expansion of Entebbe airport. The loan came with a maturity period of 20 years including a seven-year grace period. However, as per African media reports, for securing the loan, the Ugandan government waived off the clause for international immunity, attaching its only international airport. This means that China, without any international arbitration, can take over the possession of Entebbe International Airport.

Foreseeing the possible crisis, a delegation of Ugandan officials had been deployed to China earlier in March 2021 in an attempt to renegotiate the clauses of the loan agreement. However, the deal fell through, and the country was unsuccessful since China refused to alter the original terms of the deal. Entebbe International Airport is not only Uganda’s most successful airport handling over 1.9 million passengers but is also the only international airport.