China Eximbank pledges CFA 110 billion loan for CRTV Rehabilitation Project

On December 22, 2014, Cameroon's Ministry of Communications and Star Software Technologies Co. LTD (Startimes) signed a commercial contract worth CFA 110 billion for the CRTV Rehabilitation Project. The purpose of the project was to support CRTV's efforts to transition from migration from analog to digital terrestrial television (DTT). The Government of Cameroon intended to finance the commercial contract with a loan from China Eximbank; however, in March 2017, Professor Felix Zogo, Inspector General in Cameroon's Ministry of Communication, disclosed that the Government of Cameroon had not yet finalized a loan agreement with China Eximbank for the CRTV Rehabilitation Project. Then, the Government of Cameroon identified a China Eximbank loan (worth CFA 15 billion) for the CRTV Rehabilitation Project in its 2018 Borrowing Plan. However, in its Article IV reporting to the IMF, the Government of Cameroon indicated that the approval of the loan was pending a 'compliance report'. The Government of Cameroon subsequently identified a China Eximbank loan (worth CFA 25 billion) for the CRTV Rehabilitation Project in its 2019 Borrowing Plan. However, a 'compliance report' was still pending at that time.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the CRTV Rehabilitation Project. The French project title is la réhabilitation technique de la CRTV. 2. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that it released in July 2020, SAIS-CARI identifies the CRTV Rehabilitation Project as one that was backed an official, $62 million loan commitment (i.e. a signed and countersigned loan agreement) from China Eximbank in 2016. However, given that the approval of this loan was still pending a 'compliance report' in 2019, AidData has status-coded the transaction as a pledge rather than an official commitment. 3. CRTV is a government-controlled radio and television service in Cameroon. It started as Cameroon Television and later merged with the radio service to become known as CRTV.

Number of official sources

2

Number of total sources

7