Bank of China provides $41.78 million loan for Phase 1 of Intelligent Urban Video Surveillance System Expansion Project (Linked to Project ID#88178)

On February 22, 2018, the Shenzhen Branch of Bank of China and the Government of Cameroon's Ministry of Defense (MINDEF) signed a $41,780,769 (CFA 23 billion) commercial loan agreement for Phase 1 of the Intelligent Urban Video Surveillance System Expansion Project. According to the Government of Cameroon's Caisse Autonome d'Amortissements (CAA), the loan carries the following borrowing terms: a 3 year grace period, a 15 year maturity, and an interest rate of LIBOR plus a 3% margin. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance a commercial contract between the Government of Cameroon’s Délégation Générale à la Sûreté Nationale (DGSN or General Delegation for National Security) and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., which was signed in February 2017. As of December 31, 2020, the loan had achieved a 100% disbursement rate and its outstanding amount was equivalent to CFA 22.4 billion. The project involves the installation of 1,500 video-surveillance cameras in various cities and towns and the acquisition of 2,000 portable two-way radios. During phase 1 of the project, video-surveillance cameras will be installed in the capital cities of the country’s ten regions (Ngaoundere, Yaoundé, Bertoua, Maroua, Douala, Garoua, Bamenda, Bafoussam, Ebolowa, and Buea) as well as the towns of Kribi, Kyé-Ossi. Garoua-Boulaï, Waza, Fotokol, Kousseri and Amchidé. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is the contractor responsible for implementation. This project has entered implementation. However, its precise implementation start date is unknown. On August 22, 2019, DGSN and Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. officially inaugurated a national video surveillance command center. Then, on April 22, 2021, Bafoussam City Council and CAMTEL signed a framework agreement for Bafoussam, the capital city of the West Region of Cameroon, to become a ‘Smart City’.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as Phase 1 of the Cameroon Intelligent City Project. The French project title is Projet d’extension au plan national du système intelligent de vidéo surveillance urbaine or Projet d'extension au plan national du système intelligent de vidéosurveillance urbaine (phase I, 1500 cameras). 2. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, a $40 million Bank of China loan is identified for this project. SAIS-CARI does not identify the borrowing terms of the loan. The World Bank’s Debtor Report System (DRS) identifies the face value of the loan as $41,781,000. AidData relies on the face value ($41,780,769) and borrowing terms (a 3 year grace period, a 15-year maturity, and an interest rate of LIBOR plus a 3% margin) of the loan that is recorded in a March 2021 publication of the Government of Cameroon’s Caisse Autonome d'Amortissements (CAA). AidData has estimated the all-in interest rate by adding 3% to the average 6-month LIBOR rate (2.089%) in February 2018. CAA acknowledges in a March 2021 publication that the interest rate that applies to the loan is floating, but it estimates that the interest rate is equivalent to approximately 5%. 3. On May 15, 2019, the Bank of China and the Government of Cameroon signed a $41,612,944.52 loan agreement for Phase 2 of the Intelligent Urban Video Surveillance System Expansion Project (captured via Project ID#88178). On December 29, 2021, the Government of Cameroon authorized its Ministry of Finance to negotiate an EUR 50 million loan agreement with China Construction Bank (CCB) for Phase 2 of the Intelligent Urban Video Surveillance System Expansion Project. However, AidData has not yet identified any evidence that a loan agreement was CCB was finalized. 4. The pilot phase of the Cameroon Intelligent City Project started in August 2014 and consisted of 70 CCTV cameras in six localities.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

18