Chinese Government provides $15 million grant for Santa Maria Educational Complex Construction Project

In 2012, China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) provided a $15 million grant to the Government of Cape Verde for the Santa Maria Educational Complex Construction Project. This project involved the construction of an educational complex — consisting of 23 classrooms, 9 laboratories, an amphitheater, a library, a computer room, an audiovisual room, offices and meeting rooms for teachers — in an area that occupies 21,000 square meters in the city of Santa Maria on Sal Island. It also involved the construction of a block for technical and professional training for electro-mechanical work, civil construction, and welding. The complex was designed to accommodate 1,800 students from pre-school to general secondary and technical-professional education. Shaanxi Huashan International Construction Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. Project site preparation activities were undertaken on June 25, 2012. Then, Shaanxi Huashan International Construction Corporation signed a construction contract on December 20, 2012. A foundation stone laying ceremony took place on July 12, 2013, and as of December 2013, construction was underway. When Cape Verde's Prime Minister visited the project site in June 2014, the project was expected to be complete by the second half of 2015. From August 18, 2015 to August 24, 2015, the project underwent a MOFCOM inspection. On November 27, 2015, China and Cape Verde signed a supplementary construction contract for the school. A project completion ceremony was held on December 7, 2015.

Additional details

The Portuguese project title is Construção do Complexo Educativo de Santa Maria or Complexo Educativo da Ilha do Sal or Construção do Complexo Educativo de Santa Maria, na ilha do Sal. The Complexo Educativo de Santa Maria is also known as Complexo Educativo Manuel António Martins (CEMAM). The Chinese project title is 援建的萨尔综合学校项目 or 佛得角综合学校项目. AidData could not identify any evidence from the Chinese Government or the Government of Cape Verde that this project was supported by a loan. Therefore, it is coded as a grant-financed project for the time being. However, MOFCOM refers to the project as being supported by ‘aid’, which in principle could be a grant or interest-free loan. This issue merits further investigation.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

21