China Eximbank provides $150 million preferential buyer's credit for Juba International Airport Reconstruction and Extension Phase 1 Project

On April 14, 2013, China Eximbank and the Government of South Sudan signed a preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement worth $150 million for the Juba International Airport Reconstruction and Extension Phase 1 Project. The PBC went into effect on January 21, 2014. The PBC (loan) carries the following borrowing terms: an interest rate of 2%, a grace period of 5 years, and a maturity of 19.5 years, a 0.25% commitment fee, and a 0.25% management fee. The borrower was reportedly authorized to use 100% of the loan proceeds to finance a commercial contract with China Harbour Engineering Company (CHEC). The loan’s first scheduled repayment date is January 21, 2019 (5 years after the loan’s effective date) and its final maturity (repayment) date is July 21, 2033. It is scheduled for semi-annual repayments on January 21 and July 21 of each year. The borrower expected to make annual principal and interest payments worth approximately $17,155,063.53. As of December 31, 2015, the loan had achieved a 66.6% disbursement rate ($100 million out of $150 million). By December 2022, the loan had achieved a 100% disbursement rate. As of June 2022, total repayments from the borrower to the lender amounted to $22,991,342.60 ($2,991,374.93 in repaid interest and $19,999,967.67 in repaid principal). The loan’s amount outstanding was $100 million in December 2015, $127,008,657 in June 2022, and $167,894,000 as of December 2022. Phase 1 involved extending the Juba International Airport’s runway from 2,400 meters to 3,100 meters, the construction of duty-free shops and more parking lots, and the expansion of immigration offices. CHEC was the contractor responsible for project implementation. The project began on July 7, 2014 and was expected to reach completion within 30 months (January 7, 2017). It was ultimately completed and put into use on March 17, 2017.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 南苏丹朱巴国际机场项目 or 中国港湾工程有限责任公司朱巴国际机场改扩建项目. 2. Some sources (e.g. https://www.cabri-sbo.org/uploads/bia/south_sudan_2014_approval_external_budget_speech_ministry_of_finance_igad_english_.pdf) suggest that the China Eximbank loan was restructured as a $150 million buyer’s credit loan (BCL) — secured (collateralized) against oil sales — with an interest rate of LIBOR plus 350 basis points and a 15 year maturity. However, for the time being, AidData relies upon the borrowing terms recorded by South Sudan’s Ministry of Finance (via https://secureservercdn.net/160.153.138.42/330.9b9.myftpupload.com/wp-content/uploads/2022/06/Exteral-Debt-.pdf?time=1665759386). This issue warrants further investigation. 3. The December 2022 amount outstanding data are drawn from https://mofp.gov.ss/doc/South-Sudan-External-Stock-Debt-Draft-report.pdf and https://www.dropbox.com/s/n1dlxcgujgyst2l/South-Sudan-External-Stock-Debt-Draft-report.pdf?dl=0

Number of official sources

33

Number of total sources

49