China Eximbank provides RMB 1.513 billion government concessional loan for Phase 2 of the National Fiber-Optic Network Backbone Project (Linked to Record ID#134)

Project narrative

On November 4, 2011, China Eximbank and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo signed an RMB 1,513,000,000 government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [China Eximbank GCL n° 43 (2011) Total n° (393)] for Phase 2 of the National Fiber-Optic Network Backbone Project. The GCL carried the following terms: a 20 year maturity, a 5 year grace period, a 1% interest rate, and a 0.75% commitment fee. The loan was underpinned by the following source of collateral: fees paid by users of fiber optic infrastructure, which were deposited in a lender-accessible escrow account (that was created in October 2013). According to Government of the DRC's Aid Management Platform (AMP), the USD commitment value of the loan was $243,015,590.68 and cumulative disbursements through the loan amounted to $192,300,318.22, which implies a disbursement rate of 79.1%. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance a commercial contract between l’Office Congolais des Postes et Télécommunications (OCPT) and China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC). The purpose of the second phase of this project was to lay 3250 km of fiber optic cable along three sections: Kinshasa-Bandundu, Kinshasa-Mbuji, and Mayi-Lubumbashi-Sakania. China International Telecommunication Construction Corporation (CITCC) was the contractor responsible for implementation. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on March 30, 2013 and the project was completed in February 2016.