"Timeo Danaos et dona ferentes" is an old famous Latin phrase. It means "I fear the Danaans, even if bearing gifts". The 2010s version of this proverb shall be "I fear people and institutions offering loans".
New neoclonialism
Recently, I read an interesting article "Why Chinese Infrastructure Loans in Africa Represent a Brand-New Type of Neocolonialism" in The Diplomat (link: http://thediplomat.com/2017/06/why-chinese-infrastructural-loans-in-africa-represent-a-brand-new-type-of-neocolonialism/).
According to its author Xiaochen Su, "African leaders seem to concur, as many are taking out massive concessional loans from China to fulfill ambitious projects, such as the East African Railway Master Plan, in the coming decades".
So, what is the catch?
The question is if and in what kind of form the African countries will repay all these loans.
Similar process took place in Southern America forty years ago and the results are questionable.