[Sino-Congolese Programme] China Eximbank provides $5 million loan for 3.67 km Triomphale Boulevard and Sendwe Boulevard Refurbishment Project (Linked to Project ID#450 and #59654)

In 2008, China Eximbank issued a $3 billion line of credit to Sino–Congolais des Mines (Sicomines SARL) — a joint venture — to finance infrastructure projects in the DRC (see linked project ID#450). All borrowings through this line of credit (framework agreement) are repaid with revenues from mining projects managed by Sicomines SARL. Each subsidiary loan issued through the line of credit carries a maturity of 25 years, a grace period of 10 years, and an interest rate of 6-month LIBOR plus a 1% margin (or 3.839% at the time of the agreement). The infrastructure projects that are supported by this line of credit are collectively referred to as the ‘Sino-Congolese Programme’. The Government of Democratic Republic of Congo issued a sovereign guarantee for all infrastructure loans approved through the ‘Sino-Congolese Programme’ line of credit. One of the subsidiary loans issued as part of the 'Sino-Congolese Programme' was a $5 million loan for the Triomphale Boulevard and Sendwe Boulevard Refurbishment Project. The loan ultimately achieved a disbursement rate of 100% ($5 million out of $5 million). The purpose of the project was to maintain a previous investment that was made by CREC (see linked project ID#59654) to refurbish the Triomphal and Sendwe Boulevards (3.67 km in length) in Kinshasa. China Railway Engineering Corporation (CRECG) was the contractor responsible for implementation. It was awarded a $5 million contract (ID#ACGT/DG/003/2017) on July 1, 2017. The project commenced on April 7, 2017 and its originally expected completion date was 45 days late (May 22, 2017). The paving of the boulevards was completed and provisionally accepted on May 12, 2017. Additional work received provisional acceptance on January 21, 2018. The whole project was completed on January 26, 2018.

Additional details

1. The French project title is Renforcement des boulevards Sendwe et Triomphal. 2. This project is separate from the initial modernization of these two boulevards in 2009, which is captured via Project ID#59654. 3. This loan is not included in the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020. 4. One source identifies May 13, 2019 as the project completion date. This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

11

Number of total sources

16