Resource Backed Loans: Annex 1

This workbook contains the dataset of resource-backed loans which was researched and analyzed in Resource-Backed Loans: Pitfalls and Potential report (link to report above) published 27 February 2020. Resource-backed loans are when an oil- or mineral-producing country borrows money, committing to repay in the form of future commodity production (or its proceeds).

The researchers identified 52 resource-backed loans, 30 of which were taken by countries in in sub-Saharan Africa and 22 in Latin America. They are distributed across 14 countries in the two regions.

The dataset is based on two original datasets maintained by institutions dedicated to the research of China’s activities abroad: the China-Africa loans dataset produced by the Johns Hopkins SAIS China-Africa Research Initiative (CARI) and the China-Latin America Finance Database from the Inter-American Dialogue and the Boston University Global Development Policy Center. We complemented these datasets with additional desk research. The dataset is by no means comprehensive, and there are certainly more RBLs in the two regions than those that we list. The dataset and our analysis are limited by what information is publicly available. Our reliance on mixed sources and methods may justify a level of caution and verification of original sources in the use of facts and figures in further analysis.