Skip to content
AidData logo

Overview

ICBC provides $197 million term facility to Cell C

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$202,033,977
Commitment Year•2014Country of Activity•South AfricaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•South AfricaSector•CommunicationsFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Implementation

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jan 1, 2014
Last repayment (originally scheduled)
Dec 30, 2021

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Funding agencies

State-owned Commercial Banks

  • Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)

Receiving agencies

Private Sector

  • Cell C Limited South Africa

Loan description

ICBC provides $197 million term facility to Cell C

Grant element•18.5306%Interest rate (t₀)•3.6961%Interest type•Variable Interest RateLoan tenor•3-month rateMaturity•8 years

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

In 2014, Cell C Limited (or “Cell C”) entered into a $197 million term loan agreement with the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC). The loan had an interest rate of three-month Libor plus a 3.45% margin, accrued monthly and settled half-yearly. The loan was set to expire (mature) on June 16, 2022. A percentage of the capital outstanding was repayable annually from 2016 based on a sliding scale. In 2017, the existing debt under the facility was refinanced, other than a cash payment of approximately ZAR 954 million made to ICBC on the Completion Date. In January 2020, Cell C defaulted on a R2.7 billion loan as well as capital plus interest payments on loan facilities from a number of banks, including China Development Bank.

Staff comments

1. AidData has estimated the all-in interest rate (3.774%) by adding 3.45% to average 3-month Libor rate in 2014 (0.324%). 2. Cell C Limited, based in Buccleuch, Sandton, South Africa, is a 22-year-old South African, private mobile network operator.