Chinese Government provides RMB 56.04 million grant for Sapéké Bridge Reconstruction Project (Linked to Record ID#56184)

Project narrative

In October 2011, floods during the raining season led to the collapse of the Sapéké Bridge. This bridge connects the 2nd and 6th arrondissements of Bangui and by extension all regions in southwestern CAR. Then, on December 7, 2012, a design and construction contract for the Sapéké Bridge Reconstruction Project was signed by CAR’s Minister of Transportation and Equipment. On April 27, 2016, the Ministry of Commerce of the People's Republic of China and the Central African Republic's Ministry of Transport signed an RMB 56.04 million grant agreement for the Sapéké Bridge Reconstruction Project. These funds were drawn from an economic and technical cooperation agreement (ETCA) that the two governments signed on November 28, 2015 (captured in #56184). The purpose of this project is to reconstruct the 36 meter-long and 15 meter-wide bridge (with two lanes of 4.5 meters each and two sidewalks of 2.5 meters each), which connects the capital city of Bangui with the National Highway No. 6 in the northwest. Shanxi Construction Engineering Group Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. A groundbreaking ceremony marking the beginning of the project's construction was held on December 16, 2016. Then, on March 1, 2018, a completion ceremony marking the opening of the bridge to traffic was held.