MOFCOM provides RMB 390 million grant for the Bujumbura International Airport Renovation and Expansion Project (Linked to Record ID#57280)

Project narrative

On November 24, 2017, China Communications Constructions Company Ltd (CCCC) and the Government of Burundi signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) on the financing of the Bujumbura International Airport Modernization and Extension and Construction of Kabamba Aerodrome Project. The MOU indicated that China Eximbank was willing in principle to finance this project on preferential terms (as captured via Record ID#57280). The project would involve the construction of a new 35 meter high control tower, a new terminal, and a 2400 meter runway. However, in 2018, the Director of Airports and Air Navigation Services at the Burundi Civil Aviation Authority announced that several technical studies would be necessary to determine the project cost and these studies would take three years to complete. Then, on February 26, 2022, the Burundian Minister of Foreign Affairs and International Cooperation for Development (Albert Shingiro) and the Chinese Ambassador to Burundi (Zhao Jiangping) signed letters of exchange regarding the Bujumbura International Airport Renovation and Expansion Project. China's Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) agreed to provide an RMB 390 million grant for the project. The project scope involves the renovation of the existing runway, taxiway and apron of the airfield. It also involves the construction of a new control tower and ancillary office building, complete with all corresponding equipment, for Bujumbura International Airport. China Airport Construction Group Corporation of CAAC (CACC) and Shanghai Baoye Group Co., Ltd. are the contractors responsible for project implementation. On August 27, 2024, the project's groundbreaking ceremony took place. The project was originally scheduled to reach completion within 24 months (August 27, 2026).