Kenya Wants China to Extend $5 Billion Debt Repayment Period

(Bloomberg) — Kenya plans to ask China for a longer repayment period on $5 billion of loans it used to build a new railway line, Transport Secretary-designate Kipchumba Murkomen said.

Servicing the Export-Import Bank of China loans, which mature in 15 to 20 years, is choking the economy, Murkomen told lawmakers Wednesday at a confirmation hearing in the capital, Nairobi.