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China Provides Modest Debt Relief and New Grant to Rwanda

by Eric Olander
Rwanda Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana and Chinese ambassador Rao Hongwei. Image via NewTimes.

Rwanda’s Finance Minister Uzziel Ndagijimana and Chinese ambassador Rao Hongwei announced on Friday that Beijing would forgive $6 million of debt and provide a new $60 million grant to the government in Kigali as part of COVID-19 relief efforts.

If the debt forgiveness portion of the announcement sounds modest, it’s because Rwanda doesn’t actually borrow that much from China. Chinese loans account for less than 5% of the country’s outstanding debt stock, according to the Ministry of Finance in Kigali.

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