China Eximbank provides $19.385 million buyer’s credit loan for Caxito, Catete, and Uige Water Supply System Rehabilitation Project (Linked to Project ID#42029 and #34030)

On November 28, 2003, the Chinese Government and the Angolan Government signed a framework agreement pertaining to a special economic cooperation arrangement (Agreement name in Chinese: 中华人民共和国商务部与安哥拉共和国财政部关于两国经贸合作特殊安排的框架协议). Following the signing of the framework agreement, on March 2, 2004, China Eximbank entered into a $2 billion Master Loan Facility Agreement (MLFA) with the Government of Angola. All borrowings under the MLFA, which is an oil prepayment facility, carried the following estimated borrowing terms: a 21.5 maturity, a 1.5 year grace period, an interest rate of 3-month LIBOR plus a 1.5% margin, a 0.3% management fee, and a 0.3% commitment fee. The facility was split between a $1.0 billion Phase I facility and a $1.0 billion Phase II facility. Availability of the Phase II facility was subject to confirmation by the lender on or prior to the date falling five years after satisfaction of the conditions precedent to the MLFA and was made available by China Eximbank during that period. The MLFA is a framework agreement under which the Government of Angola and China Eximbank may conclude individual buyer’s credit loan agreements (ILAs or subsidiary loan agreements) for the purpose of financing up to 90% of the contract price owing to certain contractors in respect of certain contracts. The first tranche of the facility was released in December 2004. The facility was fully drawn down as of December 31, 2017. Sonangol provided a source of collateral under the MLFA, and repayments were made with the proceeds of oil sales from Sonangol to UNIPEC (China international United Petroleum & Chemicals Co. Ltd, Sinopec group), which were deposited in an Angolan Ministry of Finance (MINFIN) account at China Eximbank. The volume of oil to be sold to UNIPEC each month for repayment of the loan varied according to market oil prices. Under the agreement, 70% of works have to be contracted with Chinese companies and the same proportion of construction material, equipment and labour has to be contracted in China. Loan disbursements were made on a project-by-project basis. Tendering, management and payments were jointly managed by the Chinese Ministry of Commerce and the Angolan Ministry of Finance (which coordinated the various Angolan line ministries responsible for supervising the projects). The Angolan Ministry of Finance submitted the projects for tendering; China Eximbank selected Chinese candidate firms for the projects; and a joint commission made the final firm selections. The process was managed by an office in the Angolan Ministry of Finance -- known as Gabinete de Apoio Técnico (GAT) -- that was specifically created to manage the MLFA with China Eximbank. In March 2005, China Eximbank and the Government of Angola signed a $19,385,342.10 subsidiary buyer’s credit loan agreement under the MLFA for the Caxito, Catete, and Uige Water Supply System Rehabilitation Project. The proceeds of the loan were used to partially finance a $21,539,269.00 commercial (EPC) contract with China National Electronics Import & Export Corporation (CEIEC), which was signed on March 9, 2005. The purpose of the project was to rehabilitate water supply systems in the town of Caxito, the town of Catete, and the city of Uige. CEIEC was the EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. The EPC contract for the project was originally scheduled to go into effect on November 8, 2005 and the originally scheduled handover date was in October 2007. According to the Angolan Ministry of Finance, the project was ultimately completed in October 2007. However, tests and surveys that were conducted in November 2007 revealed some project execution failures and a set of remedial actions were planned in response. The Caxito, Catete, and Uige Water Supply System Rehabilitation Project also received supplemental financing through a 2007 China Eximbank $500 million MLFA (see Project ID#34030).

Additional details

1. The Portuguese project title is Projecto de Reabilitação do sistema de abastecimento de água de Caxito, Catete e Uíge. 2. The 2003 framework agreement (中华人民共和国商务部与安哥拉共和国财政部关于两国经贸合作特殊安排的框架协议) specified that Sinosure would be signing relevant agreements with the Government of Angola. Therefore, AidData has coded Sinosure as an accountable agency and as providing insurance for the loan. 3. AidData considers this loan to be collateralized in a de facto sense. The cash deposited by the Angolan Ministry of Finance into a bank account controlled by China Eximbank is, for all intents and purposes, a source of collateral. This is true even if the lender does not have a formal security interest in the account. 4. AidData relies on the maturity, grace period, and interest rate that are recorded in the World Bank's Debt Reporting System (a 3.0899% interest rate, a 21.5 year maturity, and a 1.5 year grace period). See https://www.dropbox.com/s/ab8qt4n6jijcbhd/IDS_Average%20interest%20on%20new%20external%20debt%20commitments.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/949n5rctiue6d7c/IDS_Average_grace_period_and_maturity_on_new_external_debt_commitments.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/2sw4f7gluxa52fk/DRS%20Official%20Commitments%20from%20China%20Through%202021.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/0vpohwt96l40o19/World%20Bank%20DRS%20Extract%20Sep%202021%20--%20Chinese%20Loan%20Commitments%20from%202013%20to%202019.xlsx?dl=0 5. According to another World Bank source (https://documents1.worldbank.org/curated/pt/122781468002433388/pdf/397100v20ER0P01disclosed0Feb0602008.pdf), all borrowings under the MLFA carried a management fee (comissão de gestão) of 0.3%; a commitment fee (comissão de imobilização) of 0.3%, and an installation fee (comissão de instalação) of 1%.

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

8