Project ID: 18271

CDB pledges loan to subsidiary of Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation for provision of 24 radio and TV transmitters

Pledged amount

$ 136724701.0256914

Adjusted pledged amount

$ 136724701.0256914

Constant 2021 USD

Not recommended for aggregates

This project is not recommended for use in creating aggregated sums. See the documentation for more information about this criteria.

Summary

Funding agency [Type]

China Development Bank (CDB) [State-owned Policy Bank]

Recipient

Zimbabwe

Sector

Communications (Code: 220)

Flow type

Loan

Level of public liability

Other public sector debt

Infrastructure

No

Category

Intent

Mixed (The next section lists the possible statuses.)

Commercial

Development

Representational

Mixed

Financial Flow Classification

OOF-like (The next section lists the possible statuses.)

Official Development Assistance

Other Official Flows

Vague (Official Finance)

Flows categorized based on OECD-DAC guidelines

Project lifecycle

Status

Pipeline: Pledge (The next section lists the possible statuses.)

Pledge

Commitment

Implementation

Completion

Suspended

Cancelled

Milestones

Commitment

2005-10-23

Planned start

2005-10-23

Planned complete

2007-12-31

Description

Leading up to a memorandum of understanding agreement (MOU) signed in March 2006 by President Mugabe, representatives from the Chinese private telecom company Star Communications signed a $63 million agreement with the the Zimbabwean state-owned media entity Transmedia — a subsidiary of the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation — for the provision of 24 transmitters for the Zimbabwe national radio and television network on 23 October, 2005. The installation of the transmitters would reportedly increase the percentage of the population with access to radio and television to 90% (from a baseline level of 30%). More specifically, it was envisaged that the transmission equipment would used to repair broken equipment, upgrade four radio networks, upgrade Zimbabwe Television, add two additional radio networks, and establish nearly 60 new community radio stations with a planned completion date of the end of 2007. China Development Bank agreed in principle to provide a loan for this project. The loan was to be repaid with the proceeds from a joint venture mining agreement between Chinese investors and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Co-operation (ZMDC). The Chinese investors reportedly expressed a special interest in the mining of chrome along the Great Dyke as well as nickel and other base metals. The Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe agreed to assist ZMDC with the remittance of foreign currency back to China. Officials involved in the deal included Deputy Director of China Development Bank Zhao Jianping, President of Star Communications (China) Pang, Governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe Dr. Gideon Gono, Chief Executive of Transmedia Alfred Mandere, and Permanent Secretary in the Zimbabwe Department of Information and Publicity George Charamba.

Additional details

It is possible that the mining joint venture refers to Project ID#18537.

Number of official sources

1

Number of total sources

6

Download the dataset

Details

Cofinanced

No

Direct receiving agencies [Type]

TransMedia (pty) Ltd. [State-owned Company]

Implementing agencies [Type]

Star Communication Network Technology Co., Ltd. [Private Sector]

Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) [State-owned Company]

Collateral provider [Type]

Zimbabwe Mining Development Corporation (ZMDC) [State-owned Company]

Collateral

The loan was to be repaid with the proceeds from a joint venture mining agreement between Chinese investors and the Zimbabwe Mining Development Co-operation (ZMDC).

Loan Details

Bilateral loan

Investment project loan