China is promising to write off some loans to Africa. It may just be a drop in the ocean

Hong Kong (CNN Business)China has become one of Africa's largest creditors in recent years, lending hundreds of billions of dollars to governments to build roads, railways and ports. Now it's promising to write off a small part of that debt as countries on the continent battle the Covid-19 pandemic. China will exempt certain African countries from interest-free loans due by the end of this year, President Xi Jinping said late Wednesday. He was speaking at a summit about how China and Africa can fight the pandemic together. Xi did not say which African countries would be exempt or how much debt would be erased outright. By independent estimates, African countries are substantially indebted to...