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Bloomberg
China’s overseas energy financing dropped to the lowest level since 2008 after the pandemic hampered deal-making in developing nations.
Financing for foreign energy projects, including power plants and mines, fell by 43% to
$4.6 billion, according to Boston University’s Global Energy Finance Database, which tracks data from two state-owned development banks. More than half of lending was for a natural gas pipeline project in Nigeria, the study showed.
The impact of coronavirus added to a trend of dwindling project financing for the energy sector from President Xi Jinping’s Belt and Road Initiative.
Infrastructure projects funded by China’s program in developing nations, such as Pakistan and Sri Lanka, have suffered issues including heavy debt loads.
“Power plant deals are not something you can do on your iPhone and it takes a lot of negotiation in structuring the finance and engineering specs,†said Kevin Gallagher, a professor at Boston University’s Frederick S Pardee School of Global Studies.