Antony Blinken claims US investing in Africa without creating debts, disses China's BRI

United States Secretary of State Antony Blinken has promised on Saturday that there will be a fresh investment in Senegal without "saddling countries with unmanageable debts," and made an apparent swipe towards China. This comment came as Blinken was wrapping up a three-nation trip to Africa, wherein he emphasised the breadth and depth of the United States' partnerships with its African allies. 

The indication towards China came as the Chinese government's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), which was launched in 2013, has risen quickly in recent years. According to a new study, the BRI has left a significant number of lower- and middle-income countries (LMIC) with "hidden debts" totaling USD 385 billion. 

'Our projects in Senegal - and to me this is the most important part': Blinken

Further, while talking about the projects in Senegal, Antony Blinken went on to say "Our projects in Senegal - and to me this is the most important part - the projects build upon our values that we share as democracies, namely transparency, accountability, the rule of law, competition, and innovation. These are also the driving ideals behind the U.S. Government's Build Back Better World initiative," as per ANI.  

US Secretary further added that the US intends to stimulate a race to reach the top with international infrastructure projects to reduce the differences while also generating local employment, safeguarding workers and the environment, eliminating corruption, and "all of that without saddling countries with debts that can be unmanageable." 

Build Back Better focus on halting China's Belt and Road Initiative

Meanwhile, a few months earlier, the US administration has established a similar initiative, Build Back Better (B3W), aimed at stopping the BRI's spread. As per ANI, experts assume that China will have difficulty keeping present arrangements and bilateral agreements underneath the BRI since the US and EU-led initiatives to promote transparency in commerce, partnerships, and significant infrastructure development are noticeably lacking from the BRI's terms and conditions. 

As BRI has simple lending criteria, it has been positively accepted since its inception in 2013. These concessions, on the other hand, encouraged Chinese economic and military growth by allowing them to construct infrastructure and create military bases in BRI-recipient nations, paving the path for Beijing to achieve its objective of becoming a worldwide force. As per AidData research, China has established a dominating position in the global developmental finance sector through debt rather than assistance. The research has looked at over 13,000 assistance and debt-financed projects for a total of USD 843 billion in 165 nations. 

Furthermore, during Blinken's visit to the three-country tour, he has asked African nations to pay attention to the Ethiopian and Sudanese humanitarian crises. Blinken called for improved administration and implementation of reforms during a speech at the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria's capital. 

(Image: AP)