Chinese Government signs Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement loaning 32 billion ZMK interest-free for unspecified projects in December 2011 (Linked to ETCA #2334)

On December 12, 2011, Zambia’s Finance and National Planning Minister Alexander Chikwanda and China’s Vice-Foreign Minister Zhai Jun signed two Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreements (ETCA). One committed a 43.3 billion ZMK ($8.5 million USD) grant (ETCA #2334) and the other was a 32 billion ZMK ($6.2 million USD) interest-free loan. The proceeds from the funds were supposed to be used in the fight against poverty and to support other projects that would support the Government of Zambia’s Sixth National Development Plan (SNDP). However, it is unclear exactly how the proceeds were ultimately used.

Additional details

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

2

Number of unofficial sources

2