China Eximbank provides $619.9 million preferential buyer’s credit for Mbour-Fatick-Kaolack Highway Construction Project

On January 6, 2019, Senegal’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs announced that during a visit to Senegal from Chinese Foreign Minister Wang Yi that the Chinese Government would finance the construction of the Mbour-Fatick-Kaolack Highway. Then, in 2021, China Eximbank and the Government of Senegal signed a $619,961,775.90 preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement for the Mbour-Fatick-Kaolack Highway Construction Project. The estimated borrowing terms of the PBC are as follows: a 17.9551 maturity, a 6.632 grace period, and a 2.2746% interest rate. The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the PBC to finance approximately 85% of the total cost of a $738 million commercial contract with CCCC First Highway Engineering Bureau. The project involves the construction of an expressway route (A2) from Mbour, Senegal connecting onwards to Fatick and Kaolack, and the expressway will be approximately 100 km with 2x2 lanes both 3.5 meters wide, a left side strip that is 1 meter wide, and an emergency stop strip 3 meters wide. The project will also construct an embankment on the side of the road. CCCC First Highway Engineering Bureau was selected as the EPC contractor responsible for project implementation in May 2021. Then, in November 2021, project implementation commenced. At that time, the project was expected to reach completion by August 2025.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Mbour-Kaolack Highway Project. The Chinese project title is 塞内加尔姆布尔-考拉克高速公路项目 or 塞内加尔姆布尔考拉克收费高速公路项目. The French project title is Le projet de l'autoroute à péage Mbour-Fatick-Kaolack. 2. The face value and commitment year of the loan were drawn from the World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System (https://www.dropbox.com/s/2sw4f7gluxa52fk/DRS%20Official%20Commitments%20from%20China%20Through%202021.xlsx?dl=0) in December 2022. 3. This loan is not included in the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database or the China’s Overseas Development Finance Dataset maintained by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center. 4. The borrowing terms of the loan are drawn from the World Bank's Debtor Reporting System (DRS). See https://www.dropbox.com/s/949n5rctiue6d7c/IDS_Average_grace_period_and_maturity_on_new_external_debt_commitments.xlsx?dl=0 and https://www.dropbox.com/s/p5trh0ilgrsc2r8/Average_interest%20_rates_official_sector_Chinese_lending_to_senegal_IDS_June%20_2023_extract.xlsx?dl=0

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

23