Sure; but, assuming you had good government in Ethiopia, having this supply of funds/capital/goods available is still a good thing. The question is what they do

Sure; but, assuming you had good government in Ethiopia, having this supply of funds/capital/goods available is still a good thing. The question is what they do with it. If they essentially just consume the loans, it is their own fault. In case of a bad outcome, I would have a much bigger issue with Ethiopian government than with the Chinese. Unless there is some arm-twisting going on behind the scenes that we are not aware of. If Ethiopia cannot repay the loans, by definition the Chinese are losing out in economic terms, even if they get control of physical assets etc. If the assets were worth more than the loans, someone else would be willing to bid more for them than the Chinese. If they are worth less, the Chinese would have been better off just buying them outright.