Chinese Government provides EUR 4 million grant for Poilão Dam Construction Project

Project narrative

On October 29, 2002, Chinese and Cape Verdean government officials signed an exchange of notes regarding the Poilão Dam Construction Project. The Government of Cape Verde reportedly financed this project with EUR 4 million of grant funding from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) that it signed with China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM). This project involved the construction of the Poilão Dam in the São Lourenço dos Órgãos municipality on Santiago Island. The dam was designed and constructed with a storage capacity of 1.7 million cubic meters of water. It is 26 meters high and 153 meters wide. The dam irrigates an area of 630,000 square meters. Initial design work took place in 2003. Then, in November 2004, Guangdong Yuanda Water Conservancy & Hydro Power Group signed a construction contract. Guangdong Foreign Construction Co., Ltd was also involved in project implementation. Construction began on December 28, 2004 and ended on May 6, 2006. The project passed a final MOFCOM inspection on May 19, 2006 and official project handover certificate was signed on May 24, 2006.