China’s Ministry of Commerce provides RMB 260 million grant — via ETCA — for National Library and Archives Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#59360)

On January 15, 2014, the Chinese and Djiboutian governments signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA) — captured via Project ID#59360 — that committed $16.5 million of grant funding for multiple projects in Djibouti, including the National Library and Archives Construction Project. Then, on October 24, 2016, the Commercial Counselor of the Chinese Embassy in Djibouti, Ge Hua, and the Djiboutian Minister of Muslim Affairs, Culture and Religious and Public Property, Muman Hassan Bale, signed an implementation agreement for the National Library and Archives Construction Project. In total, the Chinese Government provided RMB 260 million of grant funding to support the implementation of the project. The project involved the construction of two buildings in a 30,000 m² construction area capable of holding 500,000 books and documents. Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding (YCIH) was the contractor responsible for project implementation. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on April 23, 2017, and the project was completed on November 8, 2019. An official inauguration ceremony for the National Library and Archives took place on December 28, 2020.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 吉布提国家图书档案馆项目. The French project title is Projet de La Bibliotheque et des Archives Nationales Aides Chinoises Au Djibouti. 2. It is not clear what percentage of the RMB 260 million grant commitment was drawn from the ETCA captured in Project ID#59360. This issue merits further investigation.

Number of official sources

16

Number of total sources

25