Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 20, 2013, China Eximbank and the Government of Burundi signed a $14.98 million loan agreement for the Metropolitan Internet Network Project. The loan, which was on-lent to Office national des télécommunications du Burundi (ONATEL), carries the following borrowing terms: a 28-year maturity, an 8-year grace period, and a 1% interest rate. The Burundian parliament ratified the loan agreement on August 21, 2014. The loan's principal amount outstanding was RMB 97,694,915.98 as of 2022. The purpose of the project was to build a 220 km fiber-optic network in the capital city of Bujumbura. The project was implemented by Huawei Technologies. Construction began on October 28, 2014. The project was originally expected to be completed by the end of 2015. However, it was ultimately completed and handed over to ONATEL — the country’s state-owned telecommunications operator — on December 16, 2016.
Staff comments
1. The construction of the fiber-optic network enabled the Chinese electronic provider StarTimes to contract TV services (see Record ID#36020). 2. The Chinese project title is 优惠贷款的布琼布拉城域网项目 or 城域网项目. The French project title is le projet de construction du réseau métropolitain d’internet. 3. Given that the loan was issued as a GCL, it was almost certainly denominated in RMB. However, the RMB face value of the original loan commitment is unknown. This issue warrants further investigation. 4. The 2022 amount outstanding is drawn from the following source: https://finances.gov.bi/wp-content/uploads/2023/05/Rapport-2022-FINAL_clean.pdf