China Eximbank provides $55.773 million buyer’s credit loan for Railway Transport Equipment Acquisition Project (linked to #31472)
Commitment amount
$ 87086200.96
Constant 2017 USD
Summary
Funding agency [Type]
Export-Import Bank of China [State-owned Policy Bank]
Recipient
Angola
Sector
Transport and storage (Code: 210)
Flow type
Export Buyer's Credit
Concessional
No
Category
Project lifecycle
Description
On 28 September, 2007, China Eximbank and the Government of Angola signed a $55,773,180 buyer’s credit loan agreement for the Railway Transport Equipment Acquisition Project (See: UNCOVERING AGENCY: ANGOLA’S MANAGEMENT OF RELATIONS WITH CHINA, p. 293 and LINHA DE CRÉDITO COM O EXIMBANK DA CHINA RELATÓRIO DAS ACTIVIDADES DESENVOLVIDAS II TRIMESTRE DE 2008, p. 22). The project was financed through a $500 million master loan facility agreement (MLFA) that China Eximbank and the Government of Angola signed in September 2007 (see Project ID#31742). All subsidiary loans approved through this MLFA carried the same borrowing terms: an interest rate of 7.008% (3-month Libor + a 1.5% margin), a 22 year maturity, and a 5 year grace period. The proceeds of the subsidiary loan were used to partially finance a $61,970,200 commercial contract with an unidentified firm.The purpose of this project was to facilitate the acquisition of railway transport equipment (predominantly locomotives and carriages). The project was reportedly completed, but its precise implementation start and end dates are unknown (See: Chinese Loans to Africa Database).
Additional details
In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it identifies this loan as having a face value of $62 million (roughly equivalent to the value of the commercial contract) and a maturity length of 15 years; however, AidData records a maturity length of 22 years based on interview evidence that Dr. Ana Cristina Alves collected from Angola’s Ministry of Finance (see Project ID#31742). It also relies on the face value of the loan ($55,773,180) that is reported in Dr. Lucy Corkin’s book (see ''UNCOVERING AGENCY: ANGOLA’S MANAGEMENT OF RELATIONS WITH CHINA””).In July 2020, AidData asked Dr. Lucy Corkin, a leading expert on Chinese lending to Angola, whether the second, third, and fourth master loan facility agreements (MLFAs) that the Angolan Government signed with China Eximbank in 2007 and 2009 were structured as a buyer’s credit loans like the first MLFA that the Angolan Government signed with China Eximbank in 2004. Dr. Corkin noted that the second, third and fourth MLFAs were treated more like ceiling increases to the initial facility. Therefore, for the time being, AidData categorizes the second, third, and fourth MLFAs as buyer's credit loans. Sinosure is also assumed to be involved in this loan facility as 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 will be signing relevant agreements with the Government of Angola, although the nature of the agreements is unclear. AidData considers this loan to be collateralized in a de facto sense. The cash desposited 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.
Number of official sources
3
Number of unofficial sources
5
Details
Cofinanced
No
Receiving agencies [Type]
Government of Angola [Government Agency]
Accountable agencies [Type]
Loan type
Non-Concessional
Maturity
22 years
Interest rate
7.007999999999999%
Grace period
5 years
Management fee
0.3
Grant element
19.48443929%
Gurarantee provided
No
Insurance provided
Yes
Collateralized/securitized
Yes
Collateral
Sonangol provided a source of collateral for the loan, and repayment is to be done with the proceeds of oil sales from Sonangol to UNIPEC (China international United Petroleum & Chemicals Co. Ltd, Sinopec group), which are to be deposited in the Angolan Ministry of Finances (MINFIN) account at China Eximbank (See: China’s Oil Diplomacy: Comparing Chinese Economic Statecraft in Angola and Brazil, p. 148). The volume of oil to be sold to UNIPEC each month for repayment of the loan, varies 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 (See: China’s Oil Diplomacy: Comparing Chinese Economic Statecraft in Angola and Brazil, p. 149).