Project ID: 30926

China Eximbank provides $482.8 million preferential buyer credit for Phase 1 of Yaounde-Douala Highway Project

Commitment amount

$ 491734065.5

Constant 2017 USD

Summary

Funding agency [Type]

Export-Import Bank of China [State-owned Policy Bank]

Recipient

Cameroon

Sector

Transport and storage (Code: 210)

Flow type

Export Buyer's Credit

Concessional

Yes

Category

Intent

Mixed (The next section lists the possible statuses.)

Commercial

Development

Representational

Mixed

Financial Flow Classification

OOF-like (The next section lists the possible statuses.)

Official Development Assistance

Other Official Flows

Vague (Official Finance)

Flows categorized based on OECD-DAC guidelines

Project lifecycle

Status

Implementation (The next section lists the possible statuses.)

Pledge

Commitment

Implementation

Completion

Suspended

Cancelled

Milestones

Commitment year

2012

Implementation

2014

2012-03-08

Planned start

2014-04-15

Actual start

2018-10-13

Planned completion

Description

On March 8, 2012, China Eximbank and Cameroon's Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development (MINEPAT) signed a $482,800,000 preferential buyer credit (PBC) loan agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK PBC NO. (2012) 10TOTAL NO.(198) 1420303052012210261] for the first phase of the Yaounde-Douala highway project. This loan has a 20 year maturity, 7 year grace period, 2% interest rate, a 0.30% commitment fee, and a 0.30% management fee.On August 8, 2011 The Ministry of Public Works of the Republic of Cameroon and China First Highway Engineering Co. Ltd. (CFHEC), the contractor for this project, signed the commercial contract for Phase I worth $568,000,000 USD, for which the China Eximbank PBC loan will cover 85%.The Yaounde-Douala highway project project will facilitate the construction of a 215 km road linking Douala on the western coast with capital Yaounde. Phase I will involve construction of a 68.3 km long road, which will run from Yaoundé to Bot Makak/Bibodi. The six-lane highway will be the first new motorway since the country's independence. The project will replace the existing hazardous two-lane highway, and it aims to boost domestic and sub-regional trade as well as shorten the distance between Douala and Yaounde from 265 km to 215 km.Construction for Phase I began on April 15, 2014, and the original expected completion date was October 13, 2018; however, on April 29, 2014, it was reported that there was a protracted conflict between China First Highway Engineering Company Cameroon, CFHEC, and the Control Mission led by the SCET Tunisie/Louis Berger. The conflict, rooted in mutual misunderstanding, has led to tense accusations between parties that has left the project partially completed. The latest expected completion date from China MOFCOM is 2019. As of May 2019, Phase 1 of the project had been 74% completed, and the CFHEC estimated that Phase 1 of the project would be completed by 2020.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 雅温得-杜阿拉高速公路建设项目一期. The French project title is Construction de l’autoroute Yaoundé-Douala - 1ère phase.2. The loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via SourceID#67872 or https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20485650-cmr_2012_176.3. The project ID number for this transaction in Cameroon's Development Assistance Database (DAD) is CAM/000814

Number of official sources

14

Number of unofficial sources

19

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Details

Cofinanced

No

Receiving agencies [Type]

Cameroon Ministry of Economy, Planning, and Regional Development (MINEPAT) [Government Agency]

Implementing agencies [Type]

Cameroon Ministry of Public Works [Government Agency]; China First Highway Engineering Company (CFHEC) [State-owned Company]

Loan type

Concessional

Maturity

20 years

Interest rate

2.0%

Grace period

7 years

Management fee

0.3

Commitment fee

0.3

Grant element

56.00770973%

Gurarantee provided

No

Insurance provided

No