[Cancelled] China Metallurgical Corporation provides $136 million loan for Nouakchott International Airport Construction Project

Project narrative

On June 6, 2005, the Government of Mauritania and the China Metallurgical Corporation (MCC) signed an agreement to construct a new international airport at Nouakchott, the country's capital. The agreement stipulated that, with support from the Chinese Government, MCC would provide a $136 million supplier credit (loan) to the Government of Mauritania to cover about 80% of the total cost of the project. The remaining 20% would be covered by the Government of Mauritania. The loan would carry the following terms: 19 year maturity, 3 year grace period, and 3% interest rate. The Government of Mauritania agreed to repay the US dollar-denominated loan with proceeds from iron ore sales (which would be based largely on international market prices of iron ore, although these prices would be negotiated once a year). Then, in March 2006, MCC announced that MCC Baoye would be the lead contractor for the project and that preparatory work for the project was underway. It also announced that the total value of the project was $280 million, with BERIS and the Air Force Design Institute undertaking preliminary design, and Shenyang Institute of Geotechnical Investigation carrying out geological surveys. The project would take three years to complete, and the preliminary design phase of the project would be one year in length. However, on October 13, 2011, the Mauritanian Council of Ministers announced that it had signed a construction contract with Najah Major Works (NMW SA) for the Nouakchott International Airport Construction Project and it made no reference to its previous contract with China Metallurgical Corporation (MCC). NMW SA began construction in November 2011 and the Nouakchott-Oumtounsy International Airport opened on June 23, 2016. The project involved the construction of an airport that can accommodate wide-body aircraft such as the A380 and the B777 on two runways: a CAT II main runway measuring 11,000ft (3,400m) long and a CAT I secondary runway measuring 7,800ft (2,400m) long. The airport facility also includes a control tower, a cargo terminal, a technical block, annex buildings designed to optimize airport operations, accommodation for on-call workers, presidential and ministerial pavilions, and a 60,000ft² (18,000m²) passenger terminal with an annual capacity of 2 million passengers, designed and built in compliance with the standards of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO) and of the International Air Transport Association (IATA).