JOHANNESBURG –
China’s role as a leading financier to developing nations has shifted over the past decade, with new loans to poorer countries falling sharply while debt repayments continue to rise, according to analysis released by ONE Data.
The inaugural report by the ONE Data initiative found that many low- and middle-income countries — particularly in Africa — are now transferring more funds to China in debt payments than they receive in fresh financing from the world’s second-largest economy. The swing has coincided with a surge in net financing from multilateral institutions, which have become the main source of development finance once debt-service outflows are taken into account.
Multilateral lenders increased net financing by 124% over the past decade and now provide 56% of net flows, equivalent to $379 billion between 2020 and 2024, the analysis found.