United States of America, USA top Africa diplomat, Tibor Nagy, has warned African countries to be mindful of their debt burden.
Nagy, who spoke in Pretoria, South Africa, warned that African countries owing amount they cannot pay back, not to expect being bailed out by western-sponsored debt relief.
Nagy, U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs, said the International Monetary Fund and World Bank began the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries (HIPC) Initiative in 1996 to help the world’s poorest countries clear billions of dollars’ worth of unsustainable debt.
Under Donald Trump’s administration, the U.S. has criticized China for pushing poor countries into debt, mainly through lending for large-scale infrastructure projects.
Nagy warned that those nations risk losing control of strategic assets if they cannot repay the Chinese loans.