Recent media reports on Kenya¡¯s infrastructure financing trends have suggested that Japan has overtaken China in the ¡°loans race.¡±
Factually, this is correct. For instance, according to The East African, fresh financial commitments from China to Kenya¡¯s development projects fell nearly fourfold in seven years, placing China behind Japan as top bilateral lender to Kenya for the second year running. For the fiscal year 2022/2023, Kenya is projected to borrow just 29.46 billion Kenyan shillings ($254.9 million) from China, a sharp cutback from the high of 140 billion shillings in Kenya¡¯s 2015/2016 budget. Meanwhile, Kenya is expected to borrow 31.11 billion shillings from Japan.
Is this a sign of things to come ¡ª perhaps a sign of China¡¯s retreat on the African continent? Could Kenya be the first ¡°win¡± for Japan and the Group of Seven¡¯s Build Back Better World (B3W) versus China¡¯s Belt and Road Initiative in Africa?
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