China Development Bank loans $21 million USD to China Sonangol International Holding Ltd. to acquire 49% stake in Air Tanzania and purchase planes (Linked to #85177)

In 2008, the China Development Bank (CDB) signed an agreement committing to loan $21 million USD to China Sonangol International Holding Ltd. for acquiring 49% ownership stake in Air Tanzania Corporation Ltd. (ATCL), a state-owned airline. The proceeds of the loan were reportedly also to be used to buy a number of planes for Air Tanzania. There are several conflicting reports about whether CDB ever disbursed this loan for the acquisition. According to a report from the African Center for Strategic Studies (p. 45-46), "by July 2010, it seemed that the China Sonangol-Air Tanzania partnership had been abandoned, as Tanzanian newspapers reported that the country’s national airline would instead forge a partnership with Air Zimbabwe." China Sonangol International Holding Ltd. is a Hong Kong-based, private, multinational corporation that mainly engages in oil, gas and minerals investment and exploration, crude oil trading and large-scale national reconstruction projects. It also has ties to other state-run airlines. Shortly after making this investment in Air Tanzania, it was controversially given oil exploration rights in Rukwa, Tanzania outside the normal tendering process. Moreover, apparently China Sonangol agreed to fund a build a new terminal at the Julius Nyerere International Airport, Terminal III, “free of charge." A site was even cleared for works but no progress was ever made. The Tanzanian government initiated a criminal investigation in an effort to hold both China Sonangol and Air Tanzania accountable for their actions. One of the three aircraft purchased by China Sonangol was a Dash 8 300 series operated by Air Tanzania crashed in April 2012 at Kigoma Airport in western Tanzania, injuring 35 passengers and four crew members. The aircraft is now a write-off. Project #85177 captures the disbursed amount from the CDB loan.

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3

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11