China Eximbank provides $793.4 million USD preferential buyer's credit for Abidjan Autonomous Port Expansion and Modernization Project

On December 17, 2014, China Eximbank and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire signed a $793.4 million USD (396.965 billion CFA) preferential buyer's credit (PBC) agreement for the Abidjan Autonomous Port Expansion and Modernization Project (see IMF report p. 61; 2018 Bond Prospectus, p. 164). The borrowing terms are as follows: 20-year maturity, 7-year grace period, and 2% interest rate. The proceeds of the PBC were used to finance 85% of the $933.4 million USD EPC contract signed January 11, 2013 between Abidjan Autonomous Port Authority and China Harbour Engineering Co., Ltd. (CHEC) (see '阿比让自治港扩建项目举行奠基仪式'). African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) also arranged an EUR 250 million syndicated bridge loan facility in 2014 for this project. CHEC was the contractor responsible for implementation. The project involved the enlargement of the Vridi canal (a link from Abidjan to the Atlantic Ocean), the construction of a second container terminal, and a roll on/roll off terminal. It was expected to start in the first quarter of 2015 and reach completion by 2021. The contract to manage the new container terminal was awarded to a consortium led by France's Bollore group. Bollore reportedly agreed to invest another 200 billion CFA ($377.5 million USD) in port infrastructure and equipment to boost port traffic. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on October 6, 2015. The roll-on/roll-off terminal was finished around 2018. On February 21, 2019, the enlargement of Vridi Canal was officially finished and handed over to the Government of Cote d'Ivoire. The project as a whole was completed on April 23, 2020.

Additional details

The Chinese project title is 阿比让港口改扩建等项目 or 阿比让港口改扩建工程 or 署阿比让自治港扩建项目 or 科特迪瓦阿比让港口扩建项目. The French project title is Projet d’extension et de modernisation du Port Autonome d'Abidjan (Élargissement et approfondissement de la passe d'entrée du canal de Vridi) or Projet de modernisation et d’extension du Port d’Abidjan. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it does not report the borrowing terms of the China Eximbank loan that supported this project. AidData relies on the borrowing terms (20 year maturity, 7 year grace period, and 2% interest rate) that were reported by the Minister to the Ivorian Prime Minister in charge of the Economy and Finance in December 2014.

Number of official sources

36

Number of unofficial sources

15