China Eximbank provides RMB 602 million government concessional loan for Phase I of Abidjan City Water Supply Project (Linked to Project ID#60789)

On April 11, 2012, the Chinese Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire and Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs signed a preferential loan framework agreement in which China Eximbank pledged to finance over CFA 100 billion for the Abidjan City Water Supply Project. Then, on April 13, 2012, China Eximbank and Government of Cote d'Ivoire signed a government concessional loan (GCL) agreement worth RMB 602 million (or CFA 47,031,250,000) for Phase I. The loan was ratified by the Legislature of Cote d'Ivoire on June 27, 2012 (le décret n° 2012-484). The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), China Eximbank made 6 loan disbursements (worth CFA 38,498,681,611) between 2012 and 2015: a CFA 3,950,100,000 disbursement on December 31, 2012, a CFA 26,283,100,000 disbursement on December 31, 2013, a CFA 1,970,780,000 disbursement on June 30, 2014, a CFA 3,868,095,000 disbursement on September 30, 2014, a CFA 2,319,450,000 disbursement on January 31, 2015, and a CFA 107,156,611 disbursement on March 15, 2015. This project involved building infrastructure to distribute water from South Comoé groundwater table in Bonoua to the southern zone of the capital city of Abidjan (in particular, the island of Petit Bassam, which includes the municipalities of Marcory, Koumassi, Treichville and Port-Bouët). More specifically, it involved an 80,000 m3/day water treatment plant in Bonoua, 2 well fields, 18 wells, 5 ground tanks of 5000 m3 each, a 4000 m3/hour water plant, and 93 km of water pipeline. China Geo-Engineering Corporation (CGC) was the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. Construction began on March 28, 2013, but the official groundbreaking ceremony did not take place until on August 6, 2013. The project was scheduled to take place over 24 months. It was officially completed and handed over to the Ivorian authorities on March 2, 2015. One of the main implementation obstacles that this project had to overcome was the displacement of populations in the project area. The Government of Cote d'Ivoire ultimately agreed to provide CFA 2,990,000,00 (CFA 1,000 per m² of land) of compensations to affected populations. China Eximbank also provided an RMB 605.5 million (CFA 51.6 million) government concessional loan for Phase II of the project (as captured via Project ID#60789).

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Abidjan Bonoua Water Supply Phase I Project. The Chinese project title is 阿比让供水第一阶段 or 阿比让城市供水项目 or 的阿比让供水项目一期工 or 科特迪瓦阿比让供水二期项目. The French project title is Alimentation en eau de la ville d'Abidjan à partir de la nappe du Sud Comoé (Bonoua) - Phase I or Alimentation en eau potable de la ville d'Abidjan (Phase I). 2. This official source (http://www.gouv.ci/rss_declaration_rss.php?recordID=364) says the loan's face value is CFA 49.73 billion but the AMP says it is CFA 47,031,250,000. It is unclear why this discrepancy exists between two official sources. 3. Adama Colonel TONDOSSAMA (atondossama@yahoo.fr) was the project coordinator. 4. The system identification number for this project in the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP) is 11200713564. The AMP project code is 732960371. 5. The source of the disbursement information that is provided in the project description is the AMP. An additional/alternative source of information on disbursement amounts and dates is a September 21, 2015 letter from China Eximbank’s Concessional Loan Department to the Mme. Niale Kaba, the Ivorian Minister to the Prime Minister for Economy and Finance (accessible via https://www.dropbox.com/s/ze7fni7npn60eym/Disbursement%20Data%20for%204%20China%20Eximbank%20loans%20to%20Ivory%20Coast.pdf?dl=0).

Number of official sources

23

Number of total sources

30