China Eximbank provides $328.1 million loan for Mpila Twin Towers Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#30235)

On June 19, 2006, China Eximbank and the Republic of Congo signed a $1.6 billion loan framework agreement — also known in the Republic of Congo as the “strategic partnership” (“partenariat stratégique”) — that allowed the Republic of Congo to obtain China Eximbank loans for infrastructure projects through a securitization mechanism: Société Nationales des Pétroles Congolais (SNPC)—the country’s state-owned oil company—agreed to deposit a portion of the cash proceeds from its oil exports into an escrow account that is controlled by China Eximbank. This framework agreement (captured in Project ID#60219) was ratified on October 26, 2006. One of the subsidiary loans that was approved through the framework agreement was a $328.1 million loan in 2014 for the Mpila Twin Towers Construction Project. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance 85% of the cost of a $386 million commercial contract. The loan’s (principal) amount outstanding was $257,756,900 as of December 31, 2019. Built on a space of 121,800 square meters, the 30 story, 135-meter-high twin towers — in the Mpila neighborhood within the capital city of Brazzaville — serve as a commercial center. In one of the towers, several floors are reserved for offices; the other tower houses a five-star hotel with three hundred and forty-nine rooms, including presidential suites, ministerial suites and standard rooms. Beijing Construction Engineering Group Co.,Ltd. (BCEG), Sanxin Facade Engineering Co.,Ltd, and AVIC were the contractors responsible for implementation. Construction began on July 1, 2015. The building reached its designed height on August 11, 2017. The project had achieved a 70% execution rate as of March 31, 2019. It was ultimately completed on October 30, 2019.

Additional details

1. The twin-towers building is also known as the Brazzaville Commercial Center. As such, this project is also known as the Brazzaville Commercial Center Construction Project. The French project title is La construction des tours jumelles or La construction du centre des affaires des deux tours. The Chinese project title is 布拉柴维尔商务中心项目 or 布拉柴维尔商业中心 or 刚果双子塔 or 刚果布拉柴维尔商务中心项目 or 刚果（布）布拉柴维尔商务中心 or 双子座项目. 2. According to a 2019 report published by the Republic of Congo’s National Assembly, all loans approved under the framework agreement had an interest rate of 0.25%, maturities between 13 years and 20 years, and grace periods between 3 and 5 years. Therefore, since the maturity of the China Eximbank loan for the Mpila Twin Towers Construction Project is missing, AidData imputes a value (16.5 years) at the middle of the distribution of this maturity range as an approximation. Likewise, since the grace period of the loan is missing, AidData imputes a value (4 years) at the middle of the distribution of this range as an approximation. 3. A China Eximbank source indicates that $410 million was provided for the construction of Mpila Memorial Construction Project, the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project, and the Mpila Twin Towers Construction Project. This monetary value is roughly equivalent to the combined value of the 3 China Eximbank loans that were issued for these projects: a $19.19 million loan for the Mpila Memorial Construction Project (captured via Project ID#58721), a $62.3 million loan for the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project (captured via Project ID#58408), and a $328.1 million loan for the Brazzaville Commercial Center (Mpila Twin Towers) Construction Project (captured via Project ID#58720).

Number of official sources

17

Number of total sources

22