Chinese Government provides RMB 200 million interest-free loan for Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center Project (Linked to Project ID#57063 and #56855)

According to the Government of Mauritania’s Development Assistance Database (DAD), the Chinese Government and the Government of Mauritania signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) on December 12, 2013, which committed an RMB 200 million interest-free loan for the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center Project. Then, on September 14, 2015, the Chinese Government and the Government of Mauritania signed an ETCA, which committed an RMB 200 million grant for the Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center Project and an Olympic Stadium Renovation Project. The RMB 200 million interest-free loan is captured in Project ID#32636. The RMB 200 million grant is captured in Project ID#56855. The Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center Project involved the construction of an Agricultural Technology Demonstration Center in Mbagne (M’bagne), which is a town and commune in the Brakna Region of southern Mauritania. The Center covers 50 hectares and includes office buildings, training centers, production workshops, greenhouses, crop test fields, production and irrigation equipment demonstration fields, and irrigation equipment houses. The Center focuses on agricultural research and development and technical training. Mundanjiang Yanlin Technology Co., Ltd. was the contractor responsible for implementation. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on November 23, 2012 and an official handover ceremony was held in February 2015. However, the project completion ceremony did not take place until May 30, 2015. The Chinese Government also dispatched agricultural experts to the center, which is captured in Project ID#57063.

Additional details

The Chinese project title is 毛里塔尼亚农业技术示范中心项目. The French project title is Centre de demonstration d'elevage et agricole. The RMB 200 million interest-free loan that supported this project does not appear to be included in the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020. Since loan terms for the interest-free loan are unavailable, AidData has set maturity period to 20 years by default and grace period to 10 years by default per China's Foreign Assistance White Paper (http://www.cidca.gov.cn/2018-08/06/c_129925064_3.htm) which states that the maturity period of interest-free loans is 20 years, with a drawdown period of 5 years, grace period of 5 years, and repayment over 10 years. AidData treats the drawdown period as providing 5 years of additional grace.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

14