China Eximbank provides RMB 605.7 million government concessional loan for Water Supply Project of Three Cities

On July 24, 2017, China Eximbank and the Government of Benin signed an RMB 605,744,400 government concessional loan (GCL) agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL (2016) No. 17 Total No. (587)] for the Water Supply Project of Three Cities. The loan carried the following borrowing terms: a 2% interest rate, a 0% default (penalty) interest rate, a 7-year grace period, a 20-year maturity, a 0.25% management fee, and a 0.25% commitment fee. The borrower agreed to deposit project-related revenues in a special account to facilitate repayment. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance a commercial contract between the Ministère de l'Eau et des Mines (MEM) of Benin and China Geo-Engineering Corporation, which was signed on October 10, 2013. The purpose of the project was to improve the supply of potable water in three cities: Glazoué, Savè, and Dassa-Zoumé. It involves the construction of two dams. One dam is located on the "Lifo" river and the other is located on the Ouémé river at Ayédjoko. The project also involved the construction of two water treatment stations and five storage tanks, the laying of 200 km of water pipes, and the establishment of a remote management system. China Geo-Engineering Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. The project was officially launched on July 27, 2017, and as of October 2020, it had achieved a 98% completion rate.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Drinking Water Supply Systems Reinforcement Project. The French project title is Projet de renforcement du système d'approvisionnement en eau potable à Savè, Dassa-Zoumè, Glazoué et leurs environs. The Chinese project title is 贝宁三城市供水项目. 2. SAIS-CARI identifies this project as reaching the loan signature (i.e. official commitment) stage but not the implementation stage or completion stage; however, AidData records this project as being in implementation based on its official implementation start date of 27 July, 2017 and the fact that media reporting indicates the project has achieved a 98% completion rate. 3. The China Eximbank loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/how_china_lends/BEN_2017_456.pdf

Number of official sources

19

Number of total sources

25