Kenya Snags $215 Million in Savings After Chinese Loan Currency Swap

Kenya converted its Chinese railway loans from dollars to yuan, cutting annual debt-servicing costs by $215 million and setting a potential precedent for other African nations.

The East African nation took $5 billion in loans from the Export-Import Bank of China for a standard gauge rail line to connect its port city of Mombasa to a town just outside the capital, Nairobi. About $3.5 billion was still unpaid by June 2024, according to the government’s debt register, and Kenya spends $1 billion annually on servicing its debts to China.