China is thinking twice about lending to Africa

FOR TEN days in May Uhuru Kenyatta, Kenya’s president, vanished from view. Kenyans feigned concern on Twitter, using the hashtag #FindPresidentUhuru. A missing-person poster appealed for information on the whereabouts of a five-foot-eight African male last seen in Beijing. A government spokeswoman sought to reassure the public: Mr Kenyatta had been in his office “meditating”. But others speculate that the president was in a funk after his trip to China failed to yield a new loan for the next phase of Kenya’s ambitious $10bn railway.

Mr Kenyatta could be forgiven for feeling piqued. Beijing’s largesse to Africa has sometimes seemed limitless (see chart). In September China promised another $60bn in aid and loans to the continent. Xi Jinping, its president, promised the money would come with “no political strings attached”. John Magufuli, Tanzania’s strongman president, was delighted. The West, he griped, made its money dependent on “strange conditions”, such as insisting that Tanzania should not lock up gay men. “China is a true friend,” he enthused. Its assistance comes “free of charge”.