China Eximbank provides RMB 100 million government concessional loan for Dedicated Security Information System Project

On May 17, 2011, China Eximbank and the Government of Sierra Leone signed an RMB 100,000,000 government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL NO. (2011) 18 TOTAL NO. (368) Series No. 1420303052011110701] for the Dedicated Security Information System (DSIS) Project. This GCL, which was approved by Sierra Leone’s Parliament in September 2011, carried the following terms: a 20 year maturity, a 5 year grace period, a 2% interest rate, a 0% default (penalty) interest rate, a 0.5% commitment fee, and a 0.5% management fee. The proceeds from this loan were used to finance a commercial contract that ZTE Corporation signed with Sierra Leone’s Ministry of Internal Affairs on May 5, 2008. The purpose of this loan was to help the country’s security and emergency services with different authorities and jurisdictions — including the Office of National Security (ONS), Sierra Leone Police, the Military, Anti-Corruption Commission, Fire Force, Prisons Department, Immigration Department, and Hospitals — to communicate electronically via computers, cell phones and vehicle mounted units. It involved the installation of a Dedicated Security Information System (DSIS) based on Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) 2000 technology. The system included 5,500 mobile phones and 1,000 USB modems. All phone calls on this network were free and fully encrypted to guard against bugging and other malicious cellular interceptions. There were 33 cell sites, included Magburaka, Makeni, Lunsar, Rosint, Lungi, Mile 91, Bumbuna, Port Loko, Pepel, Rorinka, Rural and Urban Freetown, Moyamba, Bo, Kandi Mountain, Kenema, Kambia Hills and Mano. Communication coverage included all communities within a 5-mile radius of these cell sites. The project also involved the establishment of a Command and Control Communication Centre to protect national borders, police the country, monitor and manage emergency services effectively. ZTE Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. In January 2013, the Chinese Embassy in Sierra Leone reported that the DSIS project was completed and put in operation.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 塞拉利昂国家安全网项目. 2. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it does not identify the grace period or the interest rate of this loan. AidData relies on the grace period (5 years) and interest rate (2%) reported in the China Eximbank loan agreement that supported this project [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL NO. (2011) 18 TOTAL NO. (368) Series No. 1420303052011110701] 3. The China Eximbank loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/how_china_lends/SLE_2011_467.pdf

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

18