[Sino-Congolese Programme] China Eximbank provides loan for the 7.495km Ndjoku Avenue Construction and Rehabilitation Project (Linked to Record ID#450)

Project narrative

In 2008, China Eximbank issued a $3.003 billion general buyer's credit loan to Sino–Congolais des Mines (Sicomines SARL) — a joint venture — to finance infrastructure projects in the DRC (as captured via Record ID#450). All subsidiary borrowings under the (government-guaranteed) general buyer's credit loan agreement were to be repaid with revenues from mining projects managed by Sicomines SARL. Each subsidiary loan carried 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). All infrastructure projects supported through the general buyer's credit loan were part of the so-called “Sino-Congolese Programme." One of the subsidiary loans issued as part of the 'Sino-Congolese Programme' was a loan for the 7.495 km Ndjoku Avenue Construction and Rehabilitation Project. This project involves the construction and rehabilitation of Ndjoku Avenue in the city of Kinshasa. Sinohydro 1 was the contractor responsible for project implementation. It was issued a $25,770,884.02 commercial contract in 2009. The originally expected project start and end dates were March 1, 2011 and August 30, 2012, respectively. However, as of 2013, construction had still not begun, and subsequent reporting by Agence Congolaise des Grands Travaux (most recently, 2018) does not provide any evidence that this project ever entered implementation.