Dependence not debt-trap diplomacy

Abstract

Every few years in the West – in the media and in political circles – there is a moral panic about the rise of China. Africa often plays a central role in this: as a supposedly predatory China is counterposed against representations of hapless and powerless African victims. As Deborah Bräutigam notes in her paper, this currently takes the form of the meme of ‘debt-trap diplomacy’, which is largely unjustified. However, intensified relations of dependence are being established between China and Africa, and increasing levels of debt are both a vector and an outcome of this, which in some instance may result in a debt trap. The construction of a debt trap implies intentionality, but while this may not be the case, development outcomes may include excessive overseas borrowing.