Narrative
Full Description
Project narrative
On December 16, 2011, China Development Bank and the Government of Ghana signed a $3 billion master facility agreement (captured via Record ID#2034). This agreement established two lending facilities: Tranche A and Tranche B. Tranche A is a $1.5 billion facility and any borrowings through this facility are undertaken with a 15 year maturity, 5 year grace period, an interest rate of 6-month LIBOR plus a 2.95% margin, a 0.25% upfront fee, and a 1% commitment fee. Tranche B is a $1.5 billion facility and any borrowings through this facility are undertaken with a 10 year maturity, 3 year grace period, an interest rate of 6-month LIBOR plus a 2.85% margin, and a 1% commitment fee. According to Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning, as of November 2018, the $150 million CDB loan for this project had fully disbursed. Both loan tranches (Tranches A and B) under the master facility agreement are collateralized against cash proceeds from the sale of crude oil from the Jubilee field. In December 2011, the Government of Ghana and China Development Bank signed an Accounts Agreement that established a Collection Account (CA), Debt Service Reserve Account (DSRA), and Owner Contribution Account in CDB’s Hong Kong Branch for the operation and management of the loan. Under the terms of the Accounts Agreement (which was amended on June 13, 2012 and June 21, 2013), the Government of Ghana (a) granted CDB a first fixed charge over all repayment accounts, including the CA, the DSRA, and the Owner Contribution Account; and (b) agreed to maintain a cover of 1.5 times each repayment in the DSRA at all times (i.e., a debt service cover ratio of 1.5). CDB’s security interest in the charged assets, pursuant to the charge over accounts, continued to be in full force and effect, after the master facility agreement was amended in 2018. In 2011, Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and China International United Petroleum and Chemicals Co. (UNIPEC Asia Company Limited) also signed an Offtaker Agreement for the sale and purchase of crude oil to support repayment of the loan. Under the terms of the Offtaker Agreement, GNPC agreed to supply and sell 13,000 barrels of crude oil from Jubilee Field each day to UNIPEC Asia over a 15.5 year period. The proceeds from these oil sales were then to be withdrawn from Ghana’s Petroleum Holding Fund by BoG (as required by Ghana’s Petroleum Revenue Management Act) and deposited into the CA and the DSRA to facilitate loan repayment and provide sources of collateral. In the event the proceeds from crude oil sales under the Offtaker Agreement were insufficient for the Government of Ghana to meet its debt service obligations, the Ghana’s Ministry of Finance and Economic Planning (MOFEP) was also granted authority to transfer funds from the Annual Budget Funding Amount (ABFA) to an offshore escrow account for the purpose of servicing outstanding debts to CDB and/or meeting the Government of Ghana’s counterpart funding commitments. A Five Party Agreement (signed in December 2011 and amended on June 13, 2012 and June 21, 2013) between the Government of Ghana, Bank of Ghana (BoG), GNPC, CDB, and UNIPEC Asia Company Limited allows for provides the Government of Ghana the opportunity to use other sources of revenue to meet its debt service obligations. The Five Party Agreement also sets out the structure of the oil-backed borrowing arrangement and the key contractual obligations of each party under the arrangement, including the Government of Ghana obligation to open and maintain the transaction accounts, BoG’s obligation to ensure timely and legal transfers of repayments to CDB accounts and to open and maintain standby letters of credit, GNPC’s obligation to supply and UNIPEC’s obligation to purchase crude oil to support repayments, and the obligation of Ghana’s MOFEP to oversee and manage the subsidiary loans and projects approved through the master facility agreement. The cash balance of the DSRA was GHS 0 ($0) in 2013, GHS 415,877 ($136,753.55) in 2014, GHS 364,979,295 ($96,783,244.94) in 2015, GHS 366,604,322 ($92,926,496.66) in 2016, GHS 370,586,909 ($84,231,954.95) in 2017, GHS 370,586,909 ($78,960,839.70) in 2018, GHS 370,586,909 ($69,152,250.23) in 2019, GHS 370,586,909 ($64,710,992) in 2020, GHS 370,586,909 ($62,547,369.40) in 2021, and GHS 370,586,909 ($41,014,089.71) in 2022. The cash balance of the Owner Contribution Account was GHS 0 ($0) in 2013, GHS 41,642,584 ($13,693,403.20) in 2014, GHS 192,069,065 ($50,931,840.84) in 2015, GHS 206,380,064 ($52,313,012.09) in 2016, GHS 206,380,064 ($46,908,824.43) in 2017, GHS 206,380,064 ($43,973,337.31) in 2018, GHS 206,380,064 ($38,510,928.15) in 2019, GHS 206,380,064 ($36,037,588.88) in 2020, GHS 206,380,064 ($34,832,666.20) in 2021, and GHS 206,380,064 ($22,840,770.28) in 2022. The cash balance of the CA was GHS 0 ($0) in 2013, GHS 0 ($0) in 2014, GHS 9,576,037 ($2,539,321.94) in 2015, GHS 9,576,037 ($2,427,324.27) in 2016, GHS 9,576,037 ($2,176,569.91) in 2017, GHS 9,576,037 ($2,040,363.28) in 2018, GHS 9,576,037 ($1,786,907.44) in 2019, GHS 9,576,037 ($1,672,144.47) in 2020, GHS 9,576,037 ($1,616,236.05) in 2021, and GHS 9,576,037 ($1,059,811.96) in 2022. Under the terms of the master facility agreement, subsidiary loan agreements must be negotiated to secure financial support for any given project. Tranche A is captured via Record ID#2034, and Tranche B is captured via Record ID#85282. In April 2013, China Development Bank and the Government of Ghana signed a subsidiary loan agreement worth $150 million — using the Tranche B lending facility — for the ICT Enhanced Surveillance Project. The proceeds of this loan were to be used by the borrower to finance approximately 85% of the cost of a $176.5 million commercial contract between Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd., which was signed in 2012. The purpose of the project was to build an integrated national security communication network with an encrypted PTT dispatching system, high speed mobile internet access, intranet VPN dedicated service, and national mobile video surveillance and emergency control and command services. The network has give main components: eLTE Broadband Video Trunking, Intelligent Video Surveillance, Emergency Command Centre, Data Center, and Emergency Communications Vehicle. The ultimate objectives of the integrated national security communication network were to establish an emergency response and disaster relief mechanism for the Government of Ghana; provide extensive voice coverage and video surveillance for security sensitive areas; and co-ordinate national resources to deal with the threats posed to national security. Another component of the project involved the deployment of a helicopter fleet for aerial surveillance and monitoring of gas infrastructure/facilities. More specifically, this component involved the acquisition of four Z-9EH helicopters as part of an enhanced ICT surveillance system to support the Western Corridor Gas Infrastructure Development Project (see Record ID#58586). It also involved the provision of spare parts and facilities for the aircraft and their maintenance, as well as personnel training. The President of Ghana announced that the helicopters would be used to secure offshore oil installations, enhance maritime security and anti-piracy efforts, conduct medical evacuations, and conduct search and rescue operations. Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. was the general EPC contractor responsible for implementation. However, China National Aero Technology Import and Export Corporation (CATIC) was involved in the provision of the four Z-9EH helicopters. The project officially commenced in 2012. CATIC successfully delivered all four helicopters to Ghana Air Force on September 23, 2015. The project was ultimately completed in 2017. It reportedly resulted in the installation of approximately 800 CCTV cameras in Accra, Kumasi, Takoradi and some critical border areas such as Aflao, Elubo and Paga, as well as other critical national installations and some major towns across the country. It also and the establishment of a national Emergency Command Center (or ‘National Command Centre’) other operations centers for emergency response and command and control for law enforcement, security, intelligence, and emergency response agencies. According to Ghana’s Minister of National Security, Mr Albert Kan-Dapaah, “[the] project was largely successful, enhancing the communications of the various agencies and assisting to detect crime, road infractions, supporting major public events and providing evidence to support investigations and the prosecution of many cases where some details were captured by the CCTV network.’ On August 6, 2025, shortly after takeoff, one of the Z-9EH helicopters acquired via the CDB loan crashed in the Akrofuom District of Ashanti of Ghana, killing all eight passengers, including Ghana's Minister of Defence Edward Omane Boamah and Ibrahim Murtala Muhammed, the Minister for Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation, and other government officials.
Staff comments
1. This project is also known as the Integrated National Security Communications Enhancement Project, Phase 1 of Integrated National Security Communications Enhancement Network (ALPHA) Project, the ICT-enhanced Surveillance and Monitoring Facilities for the Oil and Gas Enclave Project, and the Deployment of ICT Enhanced Surveillance Platform for Western Corridor Oil Enclave Project. The Chinese project title is 的油气监控通讯技术平台项目 or 综合国家安全通信增强项目. 2. On October 31, 2019, Ken Ofori-Atta, Ghana’s Minister of Finance, and Albert Kan-Dapaah, Ghana’s Minister of National Security, submitted a joint memorandum to the country’s parliament to justify approval of a $199.4 million preferential buyer’s credit from China Eximbank for Phase 2 of Integrated National Security Communications Enhancement Network (ALPHA) Project (captured via Record ID#86361). It said that ‘the Government of Ghana (GoG) in its efforts to improve the security of the state intends to enter into an agreement to leverage emerging technologies to facilitate the determent and detection of nefarious activities in the country, safeguard critical national infrastructure and also to improve security and emergency response coordination with the use of state-of-the-art security and public safety systems. To this end, the GoG and Huawei Technologies signed a $176 million commercial contract in 2012, to deliver such mentioned systems, to complement other security systems already in place nationwide. Funding was provided by China Development Bank and all necessary parliamentary approvals were secured through the Ministry of Communication. The National Security Council as part of its mandate was the owner of the project and provided the key personnel on behalf of the GoG to support project implementation and subsequent takeover for operations and maintenance. The first phase of the project as currently deployed provided the underlying infrastructure for national security and emergency response priority communications for both voice and data, as well as the backbone for our nationwide video surveillance (CCTV) deployment efforts. It further delivered a national Emergency Command Center, for coordinated incident response, and from which the various security services are able to draw intelligence feeds. For the reasons, the Ghanaian President granted executive approval on October 30, 2019 for the implementation of the second phase of the project. The first phase of the project installed the communications network upon which network elements such as the CCTV, handsets, and other systems would ride. It also introduced a few of the CCTV cameras (around 800 cameras) for priority deployment to critical areas such as key national installations and hotspots. However, these numbers have been found to be woefully inadequate in providing anything close to effective coverage for our nation’s security. Recent violent crimes and other security breaches for which we were unable to provide active surveillance, nor provide post-incident video footages, have necessitated expeditious action to extend the coverage of the systems to cover dead zones and some hot blind spots in the country.’ This statement suggest that China Development Bank rather than China Eximbank issued a loan for Phase 2 of Dedicated Security Information System Project (also known as Phase 1 of Integrated National Security Communications Enhancement Network Project). However, AidData has not independently confirmed that China Development Bank issued a loan to support this project.” 3. AidData has calculated the loan's all-in interest rate (3.286%) -- at the time it was issued -- by taking the average 6-month LIBOR rate during the month (April 2013) when the subsidiary loan agreement was finalized (0.436%) and adding a 2.85% margin. 4. The DSRA, CA, and Owner Contribution Account cash balances are reported in GHS in the Government of Ghana’s annual financial statements. The USD equivalent values of these cash balances are calculated by applying the average GHS-to-USD exchange rates in calendar year 2014 (3.041069-to-1), calendar year 2015 (3.7711-to-1), calendar year 2016 (3.9451-to-1), calendar year 2017 (4.3996-to-1), calendar year 2018 (4.6933-to-1), calendar year 2019 (5.3590-to-1), calendar year 2020 (5.7268-to-1), calendar year 2021 (5.9249-to-1), and calendar year 2022 (9.0356-to-1). 5. In its annual financial statements, the Government of Ghana identifies the cash balances under the Collection Account (CA), Debt Service Reserve Account (DSRA), and Owner Contribution Account in CDB’s Hong Kong Branch as ‘collateral securities’. See, for example, https://audit.gov.gh/files/audit_reports/Report_of_the_Auditor-General_on_the_Public_Accounts_of_Ghana,_Consolidated_Fund_for_the_Financial_Year_ended_31_December_2016.pdf 6. The February 1, 2012 offtaker agreement between the Ghana National Petroleum Corporation (GNPC) and the UNIPEC Asia Company Limited (UNIPEC Asia) can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/9m0s7pxnqw4xsat55uezs/GNPC-UNIPEC-Signed-Agreement0001.pdf?rlkey=gwx6ajv1i4fbk3ff87nlu5t1t&dl=0 7. A portion of the loan agreement can be accessed at https://docs.aiddata.org/ad4/pdfs/how-china-lends-2/GHA_2013_51.pdf.