China Eximbank provides $211.31 million preferential buyer’s credit for 147MW Adjarala Hydroelectric Power Plant Project (Linked to Project ID#2170, #58671, #68762)

On December 15, 2015, China Eximbank and the Government of Benin signed a $211.31 million preferential buyer’s credit (PBC) agreement for the Adjarala Hydroelectric Power Plant Project. The PBC carries the following borrowing terms: a 20-year maturity, a 7-year grace period, and a 2% interest rate. Then, on July 12, 2016, China Eximbank and the Government of Benin signed an RMB 400 million government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the Adjarala Hydroelectric Power Plant Project. The GCL carries the following borrowing terms: a 20-year maturity, a 7-year grace period, and a 2% interest rate. China Eximbank also signed a $61 million loan agreement with the Government of Togo for this project. The PBC is captured via Project ID#58674, and the GCL is captured vis Project ID#58671. The loan issued to the Government of Togo is captured in Project ID#68762. The proceeds from these three loans are to be used by the borrowers to finance a FCFA 265,814,526,897 commercial contract between la Communauté Electrique du Bénin (CEB) and Sinohydro, which was signed on April 25, 2014. This project involves the construction of a dam in Adjarala, which is located approximately 100 km downstream of the 65MW Nangbéto hydropower plant on the Mono River. The dam will stand 40 meters tall, with a 3.7 long kilometer reservoir. The project also involves the construction of 252 kilometers of 161 KV high voltage power transmission lines, water diversion systems, plants, access roads and other ancillary facilities. The ultimate objective of the project is to strengthen regional energy interconnection and alleviate electric power shortages in Benin and Togo. Sinohydro is the contractor responsible for implementation. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on December 26, 2015. Then, in December 2016, the project was suspended after the Togolese Minister of Economy and Finance announced that there were insufficient financial resources to complete the project. The project resumed in January 2017, and as of September 2017 it was still under construction. It is expected to reach completion by 2020.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 3x49MW Adjarala Hydroelectric Power Plant Project. The Chinese project title is 阿贾哈拉水电站项目 or 貝寧--多哥阿賈哈拉水電站項目. The French project title is Aménagement hydroélectrique d’Adjarala or Projet d'aménagement du barrage hydroélectrique d'Adjarala. 2. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it identifies a single $229 million “concessional loan” from China Eximbank to the Government of Benin for this project. However, the Government of Benin’s Caisse Autonome d'Amortissement (CAA) records two separate loans from China Eximbank: a $211.31 million preferential buyer’s credit and an RMB 400 million government concessional loan. These two loans were independently ratified by Benin’s Parliament, and in May 2018 email correspondence with AidData’s Executive Director, the Coordinator of the IMF Program in Benin’s Ministry of Economy and Finance confirmed the receipt of two separate China Eximbank loans for the 147MW Adjarala Hydroelectric Power Plant Project. AidData relies on the data published by CAA.

Number of official sources

18

Number of total sources

26