Musings From Abroad

Kenya wants fresh $1 billion loan, reviewed repayment period from China

Published

1 year ago

October 6, 2023

Kenya’s Deputy President, Rigathi Gachagua has revealed that the country plans to seek a $1 billion loan from China to complete stalled road construction projects.

Gachagua said President William Ruto would make the request when he travelled to Beijing later this month. He claims that Ruto’s proposal, which also asks that the maturities of existing loans be extended, represents a change in Ruto’s position on Chinese debt following criticism from his coalition of his predecessor’s borrowing binge from China during the election campaign last year.

The former government of President Uhuru Kenyatta used the Chinese loans, which totalled more than $8 billion, to build roads and other infrastructure, but many of these projects have already halted as a result of contractors’ unpaid invoices.

Gachagua said on the local Inooro FM radio station that President Ruto would tell Chinese officials “Can we talk to see if you can add us time, so we can pay slowly, and add us a little money so we can finish road construction?”

“If we get $1 billion we can be able to give these people (contractors) the money they are owed so they can return so even as we pay the debt, the roads are completed,” he said.

“It is true that many people have been travelling abroad, spending a lot of money, and that is why the president ordered that even ministers and governors can only travel with two people,” Gachagua said.

Kenya is one of the nations in Africa dealing with a debt issue. According to official figures, it is currently under financial hardship since it must spend around half of its income to pay off obligations that are about to become due. Foreign loan obligations and a sharp devaluation of the Kenyan shilling have made the situation worse.

On Tuesday, the president’s office placed some restrictions on government employees’ travel abroad, and the cabinet ordered all ministries to reduce their budgets by 10%.#}

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Musings From Abroad

Nigeria, India to strengthen counterterrorism, maritime security cooperation

Published

11 hours ago

November 18, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

During a state visit to Nigeria on Sunday, Indian Prime Minister, Narendra, Modi reached an agreement, on behalf of his country, to strengthen cooperation in counterterrorism, intelligence, and maritime security.

President Bola Tinubu invited Modi to visit Nigeria, the first Indian prime minister to do so in 17 years.

Tinubu is looking for investments from some of the largest economies in the world.

In addition to discussing economic development, defence, healthcare, and food security, Modi and Tinubu met at the presidential mansion on Sunday after arriving in the capital, Abuja, on Saturday night, according to a joint statement.

The two nations decided to work together to protect maritime trade routes and fight piracy in response to the mounting risks in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Guinea.

The most populous country in Africa, Nigeria, is looking to attract more Indian investment and lower-cost credit lines in order to strengthen its economy and generate employment.

Nigeria announced last year that it had obtained about $14 billion in pledges from Indian businesses, including Jindal Steel and Power, which promised to spend $3 billion in Nigeria’s steel industry, during the G20 conference.

Over 200 Indian businesses are present in Nigeria.

Modi was scheduled to go to Brazil for this year’s G20 conference after Nigeria.

Nigeria and India have a long-standing and cordial bilateral relationship. Nigeria, home to more than 200 million people, and India, home to 1.3 billion people, are both sizable emerging nations with multilingual, multiethnic, and multireligious communities.

Musings From Abroad

Military advisors from Russia arrive Equatorial Guinea

Published

1 day ago

November 17, 2024

Ifeoluwa Dada

Russian military advisors are in Equatorial Guinea training indigenous soldiers.

Anonymous sources cited by Reuters during the week claim that between 100 and 200 Russian instructors are training with elite guards in charge of guarding the President and the first family.

The males had been seen in Malabo, the country’s capital, and Bata, its second city. Reports of Russian forces stationed in the nation initially appeared in August.

Oil-rich Equatorial Guinea’s President Teodoro Obiang Nguema Mbasogo has maintained close relations with Moscow.

Nguema travelled to Moscow in September to attend the Russian Energy Week International Forum.

Russia has strengthened military connections with African countries, sending advisors and combat soldiers to the Central African Republic, Mozambique, Mali, Niger, and Burkina Faso.

Faced with an Islamist terrorist insurrection, three Sahel countries have turned to Moscow for support, expelling French and American troops.