Has China taken over Uganda’s Entebbe Airport?

By Staff writer

A number of media out lets in East Africa published stories with headlines suggesting that China has taken over Uganda’s Entebbe  international airport due to non-payment of a loan totaling up to US dollars 20 million.

Commenting on the allegation, Mr. Wu Peng, the Director General, in the department of African Affairs in China’s   Ministry of Foreign Affairs wrote on his twitter account  that, “ Not a single project in #Africa have ever been “confiscated by #China because of failing to pay Chinese loans/ The hype for “debt trap” isn’t fact-based. We will continue to cooperate with Africa based on the principle of openness, transparency, equality and mutual benefit.”

Again the spokesperson in the Chinese embassy in Uganda Mr. Fang Yi, in a two page statement refuted media reports that, “Uganda surrenders Airport for China cash.” According to the statement seen by Africa China review, the Chinese embassy in Uganda clarified that the allegations were malicious and baseless, adding that that China-Uganda cooperation has always adhered to the principles of openness, transparency, equity and mutual benefits. Mr. Fang further revealed that such stories are ill-intended to distort the good relations that China enjoys with developing countries, including Uganda.

“All loans agreements – including the Entebbe Airport expansion and upgrading project – were voluntarily signed by both parties after negotiations on an equal footing, and without any hidden terms or political conditions attached,” reads the statement in part.

“Terms of the loan agreement for the Entebbe Airport expansion and upgrading project are in full compliance with the prevailing conventions and practices in international financial markets.”

The debt trap narrative has been mainly created by western media, with intentions to spoil the good relationship between China and African countries. As the west finds it hard to stop the rise of China, they have resorted to tarnishing the image of China, and the debt trap claim is one of the big lies pushed forward.  

The statement by Chinese embassy in Uganda also mentions that, “even in the face of extreme problems of debt default, China has sought to reduce the burden of African countries through debt restructuring, mitigation and reduction by friendly negotiations.”  The Ugandan president Yoweri Museveni while speaking to media over the issue on December 5, said that, “I don’t remember mortgaging the airport for anything,” adding Kampala would pay what it owed to China. “There is no problem, they will be paid.”

As China and African counties were preparing for the Eighth Ministerial Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAC), some elements in western countries were spreading propaganda to damage the relationship of China and African countries, a political analyst observed.  China and Africa opened the FOCAC conference in Dakar-Senegal on November 29. FOCAC is an important platform for collective dialogue and an effective mechanism for practical cooperation between China and Africa.

Uganda’s Civil Aviation Authority also denied the report, saying the government could not surrender a national asset in such a manner. “We have said it before and repeat it that it has not happened and it is not going to happen,” it said in a statement.

Work on the Entebbe airport expansion and upgrading by state-owned China Communications Construction Company began in March 2016, at a cost of US dollar 200 million. The loan project was financed by the Export-Import (Exim) bank of China and the project is expected to be completed by the end of 2022.

For comments or opinion write to us on info@africachinareview.com

You can also follow us on twitter @africachinarev