China Eximbank provides a $25 million USD loan for the E-Government Network Project

In July 2010, the Government of Togo announced that it secured a $25 million loan USD (CFA 15 billion francs) from the Export-Import Bank of China for the E-Government Network Project. On November 11, 2010, Togolese authorities signed, but not ratify the China Eximbank loan because they had learned that the loan’s financing terms narrowly failed to meet the concessionality requirements under the International Monetary Fund's Extended Credit Facility (ECF) supported program. The Togolese authorities postponed ratification of the loan agreement until the loan’s terms were renegotiated to be consistent with the minimum level of concessionality (see pg.45 of 'Togo: Fifth Review Under the Three-Year Arrangement Under the Extended Credit Facility, Request for Modification of a Performance Criterion and Request for Extension of the Arrangement'). The loan was eventually ratified, and carried the following terms: a maturity of 20 years, a grace period of 5 years, and an interest rate of 2% (see 'Togo secures Chinese loan for Huawei e-govt network'). In 2015, $13,884,880 USD of the proceeds from this loan were disbursed, and in 2016, $4,215,852 of the proceeds were disbursed (see page 59 of 'Togo-rapport sur l’aide publique au développement 2015' and page 82 of 'Togo-rapport sur l’aide publique au développement 2016”). The project sought to link 287 public and private institutions — including government ministries and agencies, banks, insurance companies, schools and hospitals — and 560 buildings total through the creation of a 250 km fiber optic network. The network primarily sought to link institutions in the city of Lomé (and its surrounding areas) and Kara and provide them with access to high-speed internet (see a list of institutions at 'E-GOUV : LISTE DES BATIMENTS'; see 'Le Togo dote ses administrations publiques de la fibre optique'). The project sought to provide government administration with high-speed internet access, improve the flow of information between administrative services and between users and servies, optimize administrative procedures and procedures, and provide state officials with a modern digital environment (see 'E-Gouv : une administration moderne au service des citoyens (Infographie)').Huawei Technologies Co. Ltd. was the contractor responsible for implementation. Huawei worked under Togo’s Ministry of Posts and the Digital Economy, and provided the optical fiber, equipment, and training necessary for the project. Phase 1 of the project was launched on June 18, 2014 (see 'Cérémonie de lancement du projet E-Gouvernement'). The official launch ceremony was on March 10, 2015 (see '多哥的基础设施状况'). The project was officially completed on April 24, 2017 with the Phase 1 inauguration ceremony, which was attended by the President of Togo Faure Gnassingbé and the Chinese Ambassador to Togo Liu Yuxi (see '刘豫锡大使出席多哥电子政务网项目揭幕典礼').

Additional details

The French project title is Le projet E-gouvernement. The Chinese project title is 多哥电子政务网项目. The database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020 identified this project as having reached the implementation stage but not the completion stage. AidData coded this project as having reached the completion stage since a Phase 1 completion ceremony was held on April 24, 2017.

Number of official sources

28

Number of unofficial sources

6