Chinese Government provides RMB 204 million interest-free loan for National Assembly Building Construction Project

Project narrative

On October 9, 2009, Ambassador Yang Guangyu and Chad’s Minister of Foreign Relations Faki signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which committed an interest-free loan for the National Assembly Building Construction Project. China Ministry of Commerce was the source of funding and it committed RMB 204 million in total. This project involved the construction of a new National Assembly Building in the southeastern section of the city of N'Djaména. The building, which combines architectural design elements from China and Chad, includes more than 100 conference halls, banquet halls, meeting rooms and various offices. It is divided into three 'blocks'. The first block includes a hemicycle with 422 seats, a banquet hall with 350 seats, and eight meeting rooms for parliamentary committees (four of which have 30 seats and four of which have 40 seats). The second block is an administrative block with a ground floor and two levels; it has 75 standard offices, including six for the President of the National Assembly and his five vice-presidents. The third block consists of a building that house a high voltage electrical transformer (15,000 volts), two drinking water tanks of 33 m3 each, two pumping systems (for drinking water and fire-fighting water), a fire tank with a capacity of 3,000 m3, an emergency generator with a power of 15,000 volts, three sentry boxes, and a fence wall. The building is equipped with a security system and an advanced multimedia conference system. China Shandong International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. On December 24, 2011, the a construction contract for this project was signed in N’Djamena. Then, on February 16, 2011, a groundbreaking ceremony took place. Chadian President Deby, Prime Minister Nadingar, Chinese Foreign Minister Yang Jiechi, and China’s Ambassador to Chad Yang Guangyu attended the ceremony. Construction began in July 2011 and ended in August 2013. On November 29, 2013, the project was officially completed and handed over to the Government of Chad.