Chinese lending to African governments fell to a 16-year low in 2020 as the impact of the coronavirus deterred countries on the continent from borrowing. Bloomberg reports that while a collapse in economic growth since the pandemic has strained government finances in the region and increased scrutiny around Chinese lending, the Asian nation is still the biggest single creditor to sub-Saharan Africa. By 2019 it accounted for 59.3% of total official bilateral debt, according to the World Bank’s Africa’s Pulse report published last week.
