China has lent about $150 billion to African countries since the turn of the century, according to Global Development Policy Center at Boston University and the China Africa Research Initiative at Johns Hopkins University.
The West African nation of Benin just signed a memorandum with China earlier this month. The agreement covers a partial debt cancellation and was finalized during a Chinese foreign minister’s visit to the continent. The amount of the cancellation wasn’t announced.
Beijing announced the cancellation of up to $610 million of debt last summer owed by African countries to China.