Chinese Government provides RMB 136.12 million interest-free loan for Phase 1 of National Stadium Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#56498, #56508, #56521, #72794)

On November 11, 2009, the Chinese Government and the Government of Cape Verde signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which committed an RMB 136,120,000 ($20.7 million) interest-free loan for the Phase 1 of National Stadium Construction Project (see: Gov. of CV, Nov '09 Macau Hub, Macau Trade and Investment Promotion Institute). China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) was the source of funding. Phase 1 involved the construction of a 10,000-seat stadium — equipped with FIFA-certified synthetic grass, a running track, changing rooms, press and physiotherapy rooms, medical and security offices, and a public broadcasting system — in the town of Monte Vaca within the Achada São Filipe municipality. Its precise locational coordinates are 14°58′32.48″N 23°31′50.47″W. Huashan International Engineering Co. and China Railway 14th Bureau Group Co., Ltd. — a subsidiary of China Railway Construction — were the contractors responsible for implementation. A project commencement ceremony took place on October 21, 2010 and construction was scheduled to last 20 months. The originally anticipated project completion date was June 2012 but design changes delayed the implementation of the project. The project passed final MOFCOM inspection on October 3, 2013 and a stadium opening ceremony was held on August 23, 2014 (see: ECCO, PRC Ministry of Commerce). The stadium hosted its first international soccer competition on September 10, 2014. A project completion certificate was signed by the two governments on November 22, 2013 and a project handover ceremony took place on August 31, 2015. The Chinese Government also provided a loan for Phase 2 of this project, which involved an expansion in the capacity of the stadium from 10,000 seats to 15,000 seats (captured in Project ID#56498). Additionally, the Chinese Government financed the construction of an access road to the stadium in 2014 (captured in Project ID#56521) and two technical cooperation projects in 2015 (captured in Project ID#56508) and 2017 (captured in Project ID#72794).

Additional details

The Chinese project title is 佛得角体育场全景 or 中国援建的佛得角国家体育场. The Portuguese project title is Estádio Nacional de Cabo Verde. The interest-free loan that MOFCOM issued in 2009 for Phase 1 of the National Stadium Construction Project is not included in the database of Chinese loan commitments to African governments that SAIS-CARI released in 2020. AidData currently codes this project as though it was funded through a single interest-free loan. However, some sources suggest that the Chinese Government’s RMB 136.12 million financial commitment for this project was fulfilled with a mix of funding from grants and interest-free loans. This issue merits further investigation. Since loan terms for the interest-free loan are unavailable, AidData has set maturity period to 20 years by default and grace period to 10 years by default per China's Foreign Assistance White Paper (http://www.cidca.gov.cn/2018-08/06/c_129925064_3.htm) which states that the maturity period of interest-free loans is 20 years, with a drawdown period of 5 years, grace period of 5 years, and repayment over 10 years. AidData treats the drawdown period as providing 5 years of additional grace.

Number of official sources

19

Number of unofficial sources

16