China Eximbank provides RMB 500 million government concessional loan for Third N'Sukala Sugar Refinery Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#72350)

Project narrative

On November 26, 2008, the Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) and the Government of Mali signed an RMB 500 million government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the Third N'Sukala Sugar Refinery Construction Project. Mali’s Parliament ratified the GCL agreement on March 06, 2009. The loan originally carried the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate, an 21.32-year maturity (final maturity date: March 21, 2030), and a 7.32-year grace period. The borrower was expected to make 28 consecutive, semi-annual principal payments after the expiration of the grace period. The project involved the construction of a sugar plant by N’Sukala SA, a joint-venture set up in 1996 between the Malian Government and the state-owned China Light Industrial Corporation for Foreign Economic and Technical Cooperation (CLETC). The Malian Government holds a 40% equity stake and CLETC holds a 60% equity stake in the joint venture. CLETC was granted a 50-year renewable lease on 20,000 ha of land for irrigated sugar production. Upon completion of this project, the newly-construction sugar refinery was expected to have an annual production capacity of 103,680 tons of sugar and 9,600,000 liters of alcohol. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on July 31, 2009, and the refinery was officially inaugurated on November 14, 2012.