ICBC provides a $300 million USD 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 USD loan agreement (see information on LAP GreenN at 'Rwandatel to rebrand as GreeN'; see rest at '乌干达电信投资方获得中国工商银行三亿美元融资'). 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) (see '乌干达电信投资方获得中国工商银行三亿美元融资'). LAP GreenN held a controlling stake in Rwandatel and UTL. It is unclear whether, when, or how this project was implemented (see 'Rwandatel to rebrand as GreeN'). However, it is known that LAP GreenN’s anticipated activities in Niger did not materialize (see 'Nigerien Government Revokes Sale of Sonitel to LAP Green Networks').

Additional details

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 (see 'Zambia's president moves to reassure nervous investors' and 'Zambia pays loan for Libya's Lap Green, but Zamtel case continues').Then, in 2014, the Government of Zambia agreed to repay the $103 million USD 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 by linked project ID#72987) was considered to be the first step in providing compensation to LAP GreenN over its investment in Zamtel (see 'Zambia pays loan for Libya's Lap Green, but Zamtel case continues'). In November 2017, the Government of Zambia confirmed its intention to pay LAP GreenN $382 million USD to compensate for the nationalization of Zamtel (see pg.7 of 'REPUBLIC OF ZAMBIA Global Depositary Notes Representing Zambian Kwacha Denominated Bonds GDN Listing Memorandum').

Number of official sources

3

Number of unofficial sources

15