China's African debt-trap: Beijing prepares to seize Kenya's port of Mombasa

China's African debt-trap: Beijing prepares to seize Kenya's port of Mombasa Nairobi fails to repay massive debts on shady loan for underperforming railway, Kenyan infrastructure ripe for the taking: reports

TAIPEI (Taiwan News) – China may be preparing to seize some major assets in the African nation of Kenya, as a result of debt-trap diplomacy.

African media reports that Kenya may soon be forced to relinquish control of its largest and most lucrative port in Mombasa to Chinese control.

Other assets related to the inland shipment of goods from the port, including the Inland Container Depot in Nairobi, and the Standard Gauge Railway (SGR), may also be compromised in the event of a Chinese port takeover.

Kenya has reportedly taken extremely large loans from the Communist government for the development of some major highways, and especially for the SGR, which forms a crucial transport link to and from Nairobi for the import and export of goods through Mombasa.

In November, Moody’s noted that Kenya is at high risk of losing strategic assets because of debts owed to Beijing.

Local media began to express concern that Chinese lenders may be angling to seize assets, since it does not appear the Kenyan government will be capable to repaying the loans.

Now, one month later, ahead of the New Year, it’s been reported that the Chinese may be preparing to take over the Mombasa Port infrastructure soon.

The African Stand also seems to suggest that the SGR, which is operated by the Chinese, may have been designed to be a “loss-making venture.”

With a reported loss of KES 10 billion (US$98 million) in its first year of operation, it would be nearly impossible to repay the loans taken for its construction in the time requested. Kenya reportedly accepted loans of KES 500 billion (US$4.9 billion) for the SGR’s construction.

Kenya’s Auditor General reportedly stated that deal has always favored the China Exim Bank, which advanced the loan for the project. Further, Kenya signed on to a deal that requires any arbitration of disputes related to the debt must take place in China.

An audit completed last month indicates that Kenya Ports Authority’s (KPA) assets, which include the Mombasa port, could be taken over if the SGR does not generate enough cash to pay off the debts.

“The China Exim Bank would become a principle in (over) KPA if Kenya Railways Corporation (KRC) defaults in its obligations and China Exim Bank exercise power over the escrow account security.”

When the Chinese lender granted the loan to the Kenyan government, somehow the KPA signed on as a borrower. Somehow Kenya's government agreed that the port “would not be protected by sovereign immunity since the Government waived the immunity on the Kenya Ports Assets" by virtue of KPA signing on as a borrower, according to the Auditor General.

It is becoming increasingly clear that China’s designs on the nations of Africa are anything but benevolent. Kenya appears to be lining up behind Zambia, which is slated to lose its international airport, as well as its national electricity grid because of defaults on Chinese loans.

African nations must wake up to China’s new form of colonialism that is chipping away at their critical infrastructure one major asset at a time.

Beijing, of course, is denying it. But that was a couple days ago. And its only argument begs the question. China insists that the project, out there in deepest Kenya, will indeed make money, effectively suggesting that it won’t need to expropriate the port. It doesn’t say what will happen if the project doesn’t make money, which is what Moody’s is focusing on.

That follows a recent report from the New York Times, that China has gotten Ecuador so in hock to it, through a big dam infrastructure project, that it will never be able to repay its debts. What’s more, it won’t get much of a dam, either, given the still-unfinished dam’s 6,000-plus cracks and the inevitability of a nearby volcano going off, which ought to junk it for good. But the Chinese debts for Ecuador shall stand eternal, and that’s going to keep the country underdeveloped. We noted the same sort of Chinese debt collection going on in hellhole Venezuela, which wrecked its oil industry through socialism and then took Chinese loans to keep it going. Like Ecuador, Venezuela can’t pay, but that doesn’t mean it’s not time to pay the piper. And don’t forget that illegal immigrant-exporting El Salvador has pulled the same stunt with China, throwing it in our faces. I wrote about that here.

All that embracing of China (and cheerleading from leftists in the West) seems to be turning into a nightmare for nations dumb enough to embrace the smiling dragon.

Now Kenya is about to lose its most important and strategic port, no small thing given that Africa’s linear coastline means very few ports.

China likes that sort of thing - getting a nation in hock, building junk infrastructure, and then taking over the good stuff, and that’s for strategic reasons. Already, it’s forcing in-hock Pakistan to allow its foothold there to turn into military purposes, once again, because Pakistan can’t pay its debts. The New York Times has an excellent article and infographic map of the whole thing.

The Times reports that seventy countries have embraced China and its loans through its “one belt, one road,” trillion-dollar infrastructure loan program, meaning there are a heckuva lot of countries that are in hock and now can’t repay - and that will see major parts of their infrastructures taken over to pay debts. The Washington Post names Laos, Burma, Cambodia, Sri Lanka, Montenegro, as all trapped now. Seems corruption and bribes, on which a lot of these were premised, is a great way to get an empire.

Didn’t the U.S. and Britain use to get criticized a hundred years ago for going to war over badly-run South American nations that failed to pay their debts? Looks like China is viewing that as a how-to guide.

...a new global dawn is on us, the era of the Chinese debt-forced empire. That alone should be a stick with which the U.S. can use on China over all its bad practices that will inevitably lead to a crude new empire. It’s fortunate that just about the only American president with the guts to challenge this long-running scam is President Trump. He’s what we have now, and it seems that’s for a reason.

Link: https://www.americanthinker.com/blog/2018/12/now_kenya_gets_to_pay_the_china_piper.html

Step 4: Populist leader takes power, tries to throw China out.
Step 5: Populist leader is killed, along with his entire extended family, and anyone seen to support him.
Step 6: China openly takes over.

Step 7: Detecting the higher value on African development that China assigns than Africans themselves, all the locals cease any effort to better their lot, tacitly throw their welfare into the hands of the Chinese completely.

Step 8: Harboring no sense of Yellow Man's Burden, China attempts to motivate Africans the CHINESE Way --the lash. Or later, maybe organ harvesting..?

Step 9: AFRICAN ECSTASY! Africans are blessed with REAL oppression. Instead of belly-aching about various illusory euro conspiracies like Penis Shrinkers or Smallpox vaccines being poison, they can shreik about bad stuff that is actually HAPPENING..! Fancy that, huh..? They haven't had it THIS good since the Belgians were whipping them in the Congo. And yup, Chinese are whipping them like dis, whipping 'em like dat, whipping dem wif a wiffle ball bat..! Call it Tiennamen Square with mosquitos and bongo drums.

Step 10: Utter amazement by the Chinese at the inexhaustable African apetite for punishment, drudgery and lack of progress.

Step 11: ....???

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