By Martins Idakwo
A former Vice-President of Kenya, Wycliffe Musalia Mudavadi, wants the country and other African nations to renegotiate the bilateral and multilateral debts with its external lenders, including those in the Eurobond market, due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
The Amani National Congress (ANC) leader said this in an exclusive interview with the Nation (Kenya).
“African countries should ask the lenders to relax debt repayment terms or have some loans written off in the wake of the virus crisis that is taking a heavy toll on the economy,” said Mudavadi who was Deputy Prime Minister between 2008- 2012.
He added that “Kenya should move swiftly to the negotiating table with our creditors and ensure there is a reorganization of loan repayment terms because we are headed to very difficult economic times.
“Let us have a round table with our creditors like China and others and negotiate on how to get out of the multi-trillion debt shackles, as we plan to rebuild the already ailing economy,” said Mr Mudavadi.
You can recall that Chinese credit accounts for 80% of all bilateral lending to Nigeria, according to the nation’s debt management office.
China provides loans to build railways, power plants and airports, helping to bridge a huge infrastructure gap in Nigeria.
However, lending from China makes up only 3% of Nigeria’s total debt stock of $81 billion.
