Between 2000 and 2015, Angola was the second African country to which the Export-Import Bank of China (Exim) granted the most loans, totalling US$6.9 billion, according to analysts from the China-Africa Research Initiative, of US Johns Hopkins University.
The analysts said Angola still needed Chinese funding and that the money lent to Angola was only surpassed by credit granted by the Chinese state-owned bank to Ethiopia, totalling US$7.2 billion.
Data from a comparative study of China and US trade and finance policies for Africa showed that credit to Angola accounted for 11% of total Chinese Exim Bank financing to Africa, the same as to Ethiopia and higher than Kenya (10%), Sudan (8%), Cameroon (6%) and the Democratic Republic of Congo (5%).
Neither Angola or any Portuguese-speaking country appears on the list of nations that received the most credit from the US Exim Bank, 50% of which went to South Africa.
In 2015, Angola topped the list of African exporters to China with 16% of the total, and was the third largest African exporter to the United States, with 2.9% of the total, and also the seventh largest market for US exports to Africa and the eighth largest market for Chinese exports to the continent.
“As of 2011, however, US oil imports from Angola, as from other suppliers, have dropped consistently and dramatically. Chinese imports from Angola, on the other hand, grew rapidly between 2002 and 2011 and remained stable between 2011 and 2014, before falling in 2015,” the study said.
The study produced by the Johns Hopkins University research centre points out that China’s commitment to Africa “emphasises the needs for infrastructure” of the continent, with construction being one of the main destinations for Chinese loans, along with transport (roads, railways, airports, and ports).
“The fluctuation of commodity prices is important for both the United States and China in Africa. Oil is the main African export to the US and China but, because of the fall in its price, the value of American and Chinese trade with Africa has declined in recent years,” said the authors – Janet Eom, Jyhjong Hwang, Lucas Atkins, Yunnan Chen, and Siqi Zhou.
Figures recently compiled by Reuters showed that China’s funding to Angola, including the latest loans from the Exim Bank and other financial institutions, totals over US$20 billion, and has become increasingly necessary due to the sharp drop in oil revenues over the last few years.
The latest report from the Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU) on Angola said that “Chinese sources are predominant,” in new loans taken on by the country since November 2015, of at least US$11.5 billion” and adds that the government will continue to seek funding from China. (macauhub).
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