China Eximbank loans 99.4 million RMB for Phase I of the Djibouti Telecommunication Network Expansion and Renovation Project (Linked to #59254)

In 2001, Chinese and Djibouti government officials signed an agreement to initiate financial negotiations for Phase I of the Djibouti Telecommunication Network Expansion and Renovation Project (or Djibouti Télécom Project or Fiber Optics Project) (See: '团组往来'). On 21 July 2003, China Eximbank and Djibouti Télécom signed a general concessional loan (GCL) agreement for this project that, according to the Center for Global Development (see source ID 64152 p. 7), was worth 99,444,000 RMB (or $12,082,110 USD or 2.3 billion DF) (also see: '中国政府援助吉布提优惠贷款协议正式签署'). According to BBC Monitoring Africa, the loan agreement carried the following terms: 12-year maturity, 3-year grace period, and a 2% interest rate (See: 'Le télécommunication' and 'China grants loan worth 12m US dollars for telecommunications'). According to a 2005 Djibouti government financial document (p. 2.), 69% of the loan amount equal to $8,345,594 USD had been drawn down. Phase I of the Djibouti Telecommunication Network Expansion and Renovation Project involved the rehabilitation of the telecommunications networks and the implementation of a fiber optic cable loop system in Djibouti City and Balbala City (See: DONORS SYNTHETIC NOTE). The agreement stated that the project would be jointly implemented by ZTE as the implementing contractor and Djibouti Télécom as the supervisor (See: Chine - Djibouti 1979 - 2009 : Des rapports sincères et amicaux and DJIBOUTI-CHINA BILATERAL RELATIONS). The project was expected to be completed by 2007. As of 9 September 2006, the implementation was 'nearing completion' so AidData assumes works are complete (See: 吉布提共和国投资贸易指南).On 8 September 2006, China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation (Sinosure) provided a 50 million RMB loan guarantee for the 12-year repayment period (See: 2007 Annual Report and THE EVOLVING U.S.-CHINA TRADE AND INVESTMENT RELATIONSHIP). This guarantee is presumably in support of Phases I and II of this project, as it was Djibouti Telecom's most important and most expensive venture at the time.Phase II of Djibouti's Telecommunications Network Expansion, which was financed via a CDB loan, is captured in linked project #59254.

Additional details

The Djibouti Ministry of Finance denominates this loan in USD (see source ID 69826, p. 2).

Number of official sources

20

Number of unofficial sources

6