Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On September 30, 2013, the China Eximbank and Ethiopian Airlines signed an RMB 489,000,000 loan agreement for the Ethiopian Airlines Maintenance and Paint Hangar with Apron Project. The borrowing terms of the loan included a 4.255-year grace period, a 9.755-year maturity, and a 5% interest rate. The loan's first and last scheduled principal payment dates were December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2023, respectively. Its first and last scheduled interest payment dates were December 31, 2017 and June 30, 2024, respectively. Its (principal) amount outstanding was RMB 489,000,000 as of June 2017. The project involved the construction of a wide-body maintenance and paint hangar for Ethiopian Airlines in Addis Ababa. AVIC was the contractor responsible for project implementation. Project implementation commenced on June 16, 2014 and reach completion on December 31, 2016. The completed hangar was unveiled in April 2017 during the ICAO Symposium, which was being hosted by Ethiopian Airlines. The hangar contains 105,000 square meters of hangar apron area and 15,000 square meters of office area. It is equipped with tele-platforms and tail docks, and is capable of accommodating the B747-800 (Boeing's largest plane). The new hangar is reportedly part of Ethiopian Airlines' efforts to develop into a diversified aviation group by 2025.
Staff comments
1. The Chinese project title is 塞俄比亚航空维修喷漆机库. 2. This China Eximbank loan was not included in the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in 2020 and re-released in 2021. Nor was it included it in the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database — that is maintained by Boston University's Global Development Policy Center — as of September 2024. 3. The location of the new hangar is most likely Addis Ababa Bole International Airport, the hub, and headquarters of Ethiopian Airlines, but AidData has not yet confirmed that this is indeed the case. 4. Ethiopian Airlines is a wholly state-owned company. It is the is state-owned flag carrier of Ethiopia. 5. One source identifies the loan commitment date as May 31, 2019 (http://www.repository.smuc.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/4011/1/Final%20Draft%20%20Draft%20Thesis%20%28June%2020%29.pdf) and the loan's maturity length as 10 years. These discrepancies warrant further investigation. 6. One official source (https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/5nwg72mj7unyc41tgsmh1/List-of-Ethiopia-China-Cooperation-Major-Projects-from-Ethiopia-s-Ministry-of-Finance-September-2024.xlsx?rlkey=v9vjryd8kmq0bzshgocuma6mb&dl=0) identifies the loan that supported the project as a government concessional loan (GCL). This issue warrants further investigation. 7. The loan's principal amount outstanding in June 2017 is identified via http://www.repository.smuc.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/4011/1/Final%20Draft%20%20Draft%20Thesis%20%28June%2020%29.pdf 8. The loan identification number in the Government of Ethiopia’s Debt Management and Financial Analysis System (DMFAS) is 20967003 and the corresponding project name in DMFAS is ‘EAL HANGER PROJECT’. See https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7nrczfanixvivmiyzqx3i/MOFED-Loan-Level-Data-on-Borrowing-Terms-and-Loan-Performance-September-2024_OTHER_PUBLIC.xlsx?rlkey=5sqhh9ii4t3x8cmz0jf6s7cod&dl=0 9. As of September 2024, the Government of Ethiopia recorded the loan's all-in interest rate as 5% in DMFAS. See https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/7nrczfanixvivmiyzqx3i/MOFED-Loan-Level-Data-on-Borrowing-Terms-and-Loan-Performance-September-2024_OTHER_PUBLIC.xlsx?rlkey=5sqhh9ii4t3x8cmz0jf6s7cod&dl=0 10. One source (http://www.repository.smuc.edu.et/bitstream/123456789/4011/1/Final%20Draft%20%20Draft%20Thesis%20%28June%2020%29.pdf) indicates that the loan carried a variable (floating) marker interest rate rather than a fixed (5%) interest rate. This issue warrants further investigation.