Africa china relations
Japan PM warns Africa about debt as China grows presence
The comment came as Shinzo Abe aims to boost Japan's presence in the promising African market but many businesses are wary of financial and other risks.
And the problem will only accelerate as the population on the continent grows in the coming decades.
The IMF and World Bank began the Heavily Indebted Poor Countries Initiative in 1996 to help the world’s poorest countries clear billions of dollars of unsustainable debt.
China has funnelled cash and loans into infrastructure projects across the continent, where many African leaders consider Beijing's terms a better deal that than those offered by bilateral Western nations.
Carter, who has devoted his post-presidential career to eradicating poverty, said that the "easiest route" to cooperation between the United States and China was in Africa.