Chinese Government provides $5 million grant for Network Access Support Project (Linked to Project ID#52933, #52934, #55509)

On July 11, 2016, the Chinese Ambassador to Cape Verde and Cape Verde’s Foreign Minister signed an exchange of notes for a feasibility study related to the Network Access Support Project. On January 3, 2017 and February 23, 2017, the Chinese Government and the Government of Cape Verde signed an exchange of letters for this project. The parties then signed a project implementation agreement on July 12, 2017. China’s Ministry of Commerce was the source of grant funding and it committed $5 million in total. The Network Access Support Project involved the installation of 16km of fiber optic cable, local area network (LAN) structures, WiFi networks, and equipment for public institutions that are part of the State Private Technological Network (RTPE). This project effectively provided supplemental funding for Phase 2 of the E-Governance Project (captured in Project ID#52933 and Project ID#52934). Then, on May 28, 2018, the Chinese Government and the Government of Cape Verde signed a supplementary agreement to lay an additional 1 km of fiber optic cable and extending network coverage to additional government institutions, health services, and 23 schools on Santiago Island. IT Electronic Eleventh Design Research Institute Scientific and Technological Engineering Corporation Limited (a Chinese company) and the Government of Cape Verde’s Núcleo Operacional da Sociedade de informação were responsible for project supervision. Anhui Telecommunications Engineering Co., Ltd. was the contractor responsible for project implementation. On August 10, 2018, the project officially launched and works were scheduled to end in December 2019. As of October 2019, the project was nearing completion. It was ultimately completed and handed over to the Government of Cape Verde on January 29, 2020.

Additional details

This project is also known as the Project to Improve Access to the State Private Technological Network (RTPE). The Chinese project title is 援佛得角接入网配套工程项目 or 中国援佛接入网配套工程 or 援佛接入网配套工程. The Portuguese project title is Projeto para a melhoria do acesso à Rede Tecnológica e Privativa do Estado [RTPE]) or Projeto de Assistência para o Acesso à Rede de Cabo Verde. 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 ‘assistance’, which in principle could be a grant or interest-free loan. This issue merits further investigation.

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

18