China Development Bank provides loan for Liberia Sub-Section of the West Coastal Highway Project

Project narrative

On December 10, 2018, the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Bank for Investment and Development (EBID) and the Government of Liberia signed an MOU regarding a potential $100 million loan for Phase 1 of the Coastal Highway Project. Phase 1 will include 96.6 km of highway from Barclayville, Grand Kru, and pass through the town of Sasstown, ending in Greenville, Sinoe. The southeast corridor of the road, which is fifty kilometers and goes from Barclayville-Klowne to Sasstown, will cost $50 million and will be financed by EBID. The MOU signing ceremony was witnessed by Finance Minister, Samuel Tweah, Minister of States, Nathaniel McGee, Information Minister, Eugene Nagbe and the Administrative Officer at LRA, Aaron Kollie, among others. An official loan agreement was signed on July 30, 2019 during the Board of Directors meeting held at the Bank’s Headquarters in Lome, Togo. According to MOFCOM, China Development Bank is co-financing the road project along with the Indian Exim Bank. Both the Indian Exim Bank and CDB will be establishing lines of credit to fund the highway, per EBID'S 2017 Annual Report. In 2017, CDB was providing legal counsel to establish the line of credit, and in 2020, it was finalized. It is unknown how much of the $50 million total was financed by EBID, Indian Exim Bank, and China Development Bank. The President of EBID, Mr. Bashir Mamman Ifo, approved the funds for the road from Sasstown to Klowein on March 19, 2019, and said that the financing would cover civil works for approximately 50 km of the project, among other crucial components of the public sector road construction. The total cost of the Liberia coastal highway project will be $500 million, and the Liberia Government intends to obtain financing loans in batches/tranches and complete the project in phases. The goal of the project is to rejuvenate the Liberian economy by connecting it to the port city of Buchanan on the Ivory Coast. As of January 28, 2020, $4 million had been disbursed from the fund. As of February 2, 2021, the project had completed financing and feasibility studies and was implementing procurement procedures. Construction was originally scheduled to start in early 2021. The project was to be implemented with the assistance of the CCCC Highway Planning and Design Institute. The West Coastal Highway Project has been planned ever since China's Foreign Minister Wang Yi visited Liberia in 2015 as part of an Ebola Recovery Project. This was confirmed by Augustine Kpehe Ngafuan, the Liberian Minister of Foreign Affairs at the time. The The West Coastal Highway is a central part of Liberia's commerce but was heavily destroyed in the Second Liberian Civil War which ended in 2003, hence the need for reconstruction. It was originally planned to be funded by Eton Finance, valued at $536.4 million, in conjunction with a $420 million loan from Mahmadou Bonkoungou, a businessman and friend of Liberian President Weah. However, that agreement was paused and funding was secured from EBID instead.