ICBC provides $300 million loan to a Libyan state-owned investment company to facilitate the acquisition of telecommunications equipment in 6 African countries (Linked to Project ID#72987)

During the 3rd Entrepreneur Conference of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation on November 8 and 9, 2009, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and LAP Green Networks (LAP GreenN) — an investment company owned by the Government of Libya and subsidiary of Libya African Investments Portfolio (LAP) — signed a $300 million loan agreement. The proceeds of the loan were to be used to support LAP GreenN’s telecommunication operations in six African countries (Uganda, Rwanda, Ivory Coast, Sierra Leone, Niger, and Togo) and to facilitate the purchase of telecommunications equipment from Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. by Uganda Telecom Limited (UTL). LAP GreenN held a controlling stake in Rwandatel and UTL. It is unclear whether, when, or how this project was implemented. However, it is known that LAP GreenN’s anticipated activities in Niger did not materialize.

Additional details

1. In 2010, the Government of Zambia sold Zambia Telecommunications Company Limited (Zamtel) — the country’s state-owned telecommunication service provider — to LAP GreenN for $394 million USD. Then, in 2011, LAP GreenN obtained a loan from ZTE Corporation — a Chinese state-owned enterprise — to support the expansion of the Zamtel network through a Global System for Mobile Communication (GSM) Phase IV Project and a Universal Mobile Telecommunication System (UMTS) Project. In 2012, a new administration came to power in Zambia and it reversed the sale of ZAMTEL to LAP GreenN, alleging that it significantly undervalued the value of Zamtel and that the transaction was illegal. LAP GreenN denied any wrongdoing in the manner it acquired the company and said it would challenge the Zambian authorities in U.K. court. Then, in 2014, the Government of Zambia agreed to repay the $103 million loan that LAP GreenN had obtained from ZTE in 2011 for the expansion of the Zamtel network. The repayment of the $103 million USD loan (captured via Project ID#72987) was considered to be the first step in providing compensation to LAP GreenN over its investment in Zamtel. In November 2017, the Government of Zambia confirmed its intention to pay LAP GreenN $382 million USD to compensate for the nationalization of Zamtel.

Number of official sources

3

Number of total sources

18