Kenya will request a further $1-billion loan from China to complete road projects that have been stalled, according to the country’s deputy president, Rigathi Gachahua.
He announced on Friday that Kenyan President William Ruto would make the request when he travels to Beijing later this month on an official visit. Ruto will also ask for a longer repayment period for the $8bn already owed to the Chinese.
Ruto's plan is a marked shift in his stance, with the coalition previously criticising his predecessor Uhuru Kenyatta's borrowing spree from China.
Kenyatta had used the Chinese loans to fund infrastructure projects, such as the Nairobi expressway, but many of these projects had since stalled as contractors had abandoned them due to unpaid bills, he said.
"If we get $1bn we will be able to give these contractors the money they are owed so they can return and, even as we pay the debt, the roads are completed," Gachahua said.
The deputy said Ruto would ask Chinese officials if Kenya could be given more time to repay its debts. He gave no indication of what the existing terms are or to what extent the East African country had defaulted on repayments.
Kenya is one of many African countries for China's Belt and Road Initiative, an ambitious project launched in 2013 by President Xi Jinping to extend Chinese geopolitical and economic influence through a global infrastructure development push.
The Kenyan government is spending almost half of its revenue to repay debts that are falling due, official data shows.
