Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On January 8, 2005, China Eximbank and the Government of Seychelles signed an RMB 8,305,000 government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL (2004) 11 (121)] for Phase 1 of Les Mamelles Housing Project. The loan carried the following terms: 2% interest rate, 10-year maturity, and 4-year grace period. Total disbursements through this loan amounted to RMB 8,213,615. However, due to economic difficulties, the Government of Seychelles had difficulty servicing this loan. Consequently, as of March 2011, principal and interest arrears (worth RMB 2,742,964.40) had accumulated. On August 20, 1998, China Eximbank and the Government of Seychelles signed an RMB 87,980,000.00 government concessional loan (GCL) for the same phase of the same project (captured in Record ID#67498) and it also had difficulty servicing this loan. Both of these loans were rescheduled on April 18, 2011. Record ID#67500 and Record ID#55557 capture these loan reschedulings. The purpose of Phase 1 of the Les Mamelles Housing Project was to construct 203 housing units in the Les Mamelles administrative district, which is located in the south of the Greater Victoria area on Mahé, the main island of the archipelago. China Shenyang Corporation Seychelles Ltd. — a wholly-owned subsidiary of China Shenyang International Economic and Technical Cooperation Corporation — was the contractor responsible for implementation. Construction began in 2000 — with the objective of re-developing old colonial-style housing units — and ended in 2008. The 141 units of Les Mamelles were handed over on June 30, 2007.
Staff comments
1. This project is also referred to as Additional Les Mamelles Housing Project or Re-development Les Mamelles Housing Project. The Chinese project title is 塞舌尔莱蒙斯住宅 or 莱蒙斯住宅二期 or 援塞舌尔莱蒙斯住宅（二期）项目. 2. The RMB 8,305,000 loan that China Eximbank issued in 2005 for Phase 1 of Les Mamelles Housing Project is not included in the database of Chinese loan commitments to African governments that SAIS-CARI released in 2020. 3. Phase 2 of the Les Mamelles Housing Project is captured in Record ID#73589 and Phase 3 of the Les Mamelles Housing Project is captured in Record ID#68960 and #69021. 4. In October 2008, the Government of Seychelles defaulted on a Eurobond interest payment. Facing an acute balance of payment crisis, the Government of Seychelles put in place a comprehensive debt restructuring program to reduce sovereign debt as a percentage of GDP to 50% by 2020. Part of this program involved an agreement in April 2009 with the Paris Club to restructure $160 million in bilateral debt. Paris Club creditors agreed to a nominal debt stock cancellation of 45%, with the remaining amounts rescheduled over 18 years, including a 5-year grace period. The restructuring agreement with the Paris Club also called upon the Government of Seychelles to restructure its outstanding obligations to other bilateral creditors and private creditors (who accounted for the majority of external debt). In April 2011, the Government of Seychelles entered into 3 loan restructuring agreements with China Eximbank. The Supplementary Agreement to the Loan Agreement can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.dropbox.com/s/btjbnpj08x1v0b9/2004%20Les%20Mamelles%20Rescheduling%20Agreement.pdf