Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 10, 2005, Rwanda's Minister of Foreign Affairs and Cooperation Dr. Charles Muligande and the Chinese ambassador Qi De'en signed a $1.5 million USD interest-free loan agreement (with a 30 year maturity) and a a 30 million RWF grant agreement for the Rwandan State House Construction Project (also known as the Presidential Residence Expansion Project). Then, on December 14, 2006, the Chinese Government committed a grant for an unspecified amount to the Government of Rwanda -- through the signing of an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (captured in #57547) -- and part of this grant was committed to financing the expansion of the presidential residence. Then, during a July 2009 summit in Beijing, Rwanda submitted a new project proposal for the State House with a 'replacement site' and an increased level of construction. According to a November 2006 Chinese Ministry of Commerce source, the State House Project was ultimately expected to cost between $9 and $10 million. Construction was expected to begin in early 2007. It was eventually completed and handed over around 2011, but the exact date of project completion is unclear.
Staff comments
1. The Chinese project title is 卢旺达总统官邸扩建项目. 2. For the time being, AidData relies on the more conservative financial commitment estimate of $9 million. 3. AidData does not yet know precisely how much funding was provided as a grant and how much was provided through an interest-free loan. This issue merits further investigation. 4. The flow_class field is set to ODA-Like because the project has development intent and grants and interest-free loans from MOFCOM always exceed the OECD concessionality threshold of 25%.