Certainly! Here’s your text with each sentence in a new paragraph:
Eleven of the top 20 countries with the highest debt to China are African nations, largely due to China’s support for the region’s development needs, particularly in infrastructure under its Belt and Road Initiative (BRI).
The BRI, launched in 2013, aims to create a vast infrastructure network spanning Asia, Europe, and Africa, involving major projects like railways and power plants.
Billions of dollars have flowed to African countries via Chinese banks, yet these debts have sparked concerns among experts about potential “debt traps” due to alleged lack of transparency and project sustainability.
Worries exist that some African countries might transfer critical infrastructure assets if debt burdens escalate.
World Bank data from 2023 shows Angola leading African countries with a \$17.8 billion debt to China, followed by Ethiopia (\$6.5 billion), Egypt (\$6.3 billion), Zambia and Kenya (each \$6 billion), South Africa and Cameroon (each \$3.5 billion), Republic of Congo (\$3.2 billion), and Democratic Republic of Congo (\$2.9 billion).
Outside Africa, Pakistan holds the highest debt at \$22.5 billion.
Altay Atli, a lecturer at Koc University, explained that BRI projects involve Chinese financing and execution, driven by China’s state capitalist system and foreign policy objectives.
Atli noted that African nations have significant infrastructure needs, making China an attractive partner due to better conditions, faster projects, and a lack of political conditions, unlike Western countries.
While acknowledging caution is needed, Atli disagreed with the “debt trap” term, arguing that repayment difficulties are not exclusive to Chinese loans and that all operations align with China’s state policy to recover its investments.
He conceded that China “does not employ the international standards of transparency in project funding,” but dismissed claims of significant economic or political benefit from such indebtedness.