China Eximbank provides RMB 400 million government concessional loan for Mpila High School and Middle School Construction Project

Project narrative

On March 29, 2013, China Eximbank and the Republic of Congo signed an RMB 400 million government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the Mpila High School and Middle School Construction Project. This loan reportedly carried the following borrowing terms: 19-year maturity and 5-year grace period. The purpose of this project was to construction the Revolution Olilou-Gampo school complex, which is located in Ouenzé in the 5th district of Brazzaville. The complex includes two separate administrative blocks for the high school and the middle school. These blocks consist of an amphitheater with 364 seats; a library with an adjoining reading room; a multimedia center; a medical room; meeting rooms; multipurpose rooms; catering areas; 40 offices; three teachers' rooms; toilet blocks; twelve laboratory rooms equipped for languages, physics, chemistry and life and earth sciences; a 3000 seat modern gymnasium, a football field; roads; three electricity generators for the high school, college, and gymnasium; and a water well supplying four water tanks. The complex also includes seven school buildings — three for the high school and four for the middle school. The school complex can accommodate 10,000 students. Weihai International Economic & Technical Cooperative Co., Ltd (WIETC) was the contractor responsible for implementation. Construction began in 2013. A project completion ceremony took place on October 6, 2017 and the school subsequently ushered in the first batch of students. There are some indications that the China Eximbank loan for the Mpila High School and Middle School Construction Project may have financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender. In 2020, China Eximbank and the Republic of Congo signed a debt suspension agreement as part of the G-20 Debt Service Suspension Initiative (DSSI). Under the terms of the agreement, the lender agreed to suspend principal and interest payments due between May 1, 2020 and December 31, 2020 under multiple buyer’s credit loan (BCL) agreements and multiple government concessional loan (GCL) agreements (as captured via Record ID#95566 and ID#95571). Debt service payments under many of these loan agreements were again deferred in 2021 (as captured via Record ID#95573, 95572, 95570, and 95568). The IMF assessed the Republic of Congo to be in debt distress in 2021, 2022, and 2023.