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Overview

China Exim Bank loans $19 million USD for E-Government and Fiber Optic Backbone Project in Zanzibar

Commitments (Constant USD, 2023)$19,645,455
Commitment Year•2013Country of Activity•TanzaniaDirect Recipient Country of Incorporation•TanzaniaSector•CommunicationsFlow Type•Loan

Status

Project lifecycle

Completion

Pipeline: PledgePipeline: CommitmentImplementationCompletion

Timeline

Key dates

Commitment date
Jan 1, 2013
Start (actual)
Jan 1, 2013
End (actual)
Jan 5, 2013

Geospatial footprint

Map overview

Visualizes the AidData-provided feature geometry for this project.

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The project involved the laying of 350 km of fiber optic cable in Stone Town, Mazizini, Gulioni, Mtoni, Beit-el-Ras, Mkokotoni on Unguja Island and Chake Chake, Machomane and Wete on Pemba. The e-government aspect of this project included the construction of 12 sub-stations at: Fumba (the entry point from Tanzania mainland), Kizimkazi, Paje, Kiwengwa, Nungwi, Amani, Jamhuri Garden, and Mazizini on Unguja island; Chunjuu, Wete, and Konde on Pemba Island. Eventually, all Zanzibari government departments should be linked to the main hub at Mazizini Street. More detailed locational information can be found at: Stone Town: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/5974457 Mazizini: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/12990995 Gulioni: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/5712749 Mtoni: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/4441656819 Beit-el-Ras: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/273252374 Mkokotoni on Unguja Island: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/31556298 Chake Chake: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/622514835 Machomane: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1614025 Wete on Pemba: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/1614029 Fumba: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/27252559 Kizimkazi: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/845991692 Paje: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/244322980 Kiwengwa: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/31553371 Nungwi: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/27251888 Amani: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/7924661276 Jamhuri Garden: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/6787975834 Chunjuu: https://www.openstreetmap.org/relation/3019029 Konde on Pemba Island: https://www.openstreetmap.org/node/622528136 Mazizini Street: https://www.openstreetmap.org/way/344510528

Stakeholders

Organizations involved in projects and activities supported by financial and in-kind transfers from Chinese government and state-owned entities

Ultimate beneficial owners

At least 25% host country ownership

Funding agencies

State-owned Policy Banks

  • Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)

Receiving agencies

Government Agencies

  • Government of Tanzania

Implementing agencies

State-owned companies

  • ZTE Corporation (formerly Zhongxing Telecommunication Equipment Corporation)

Loan description

China Exim Bank loans $19 million USD for E-Government and Fiber Optic Backbone Project in Zanzibar

Interest type•Unknown

Narrative

Full Description

Project narrative

On January 5, 2013, the Chinese Ambassador to Tanzania attended a completion ceremony for the E-Government and Fiber Optic Backbone Project in Zanzibar (桑给巴尔岛电子政务及光纤骨干网项目 or E-Revolution). It was financed by a $19 million USD "soft" loan from China Exim Bank. The commitment year and loan terms are unknown. This project involved laying 350 km of fiber optic cable with a total capacity of 40G across Stone Town, Mazizini, Gulioni, Mtoni,Beit-el-Ras, Mkokotoni on Unguja Island, and Chake Chake, Machomane and Wete on Pemba. The e-government aspect of this project included the construction of 12 sub-stations at: Fumba (the entry point from Tanzania mainland), Kizimkazi, Paje, Kiwengwa, Nungwi, Amani, Jamhuri Garden, and Mazizini on Unguja island; Chunjuu, Wete, and Konde on Pemba Island. Eventually, all Zanzibari government departments should be linked to the main hub at Mazizini Street. ZTE was the implementing contractor for both the fiber optic cable network and the e-government components with Helios-Tech of Israel as the supervising consultant company. Mr Mohamed Juma Ame, head of the project facilitating committee, reportedly said that plans for the e-government project in Zanzibar began in 2006, but the ground work was finished in just one year.

Staff comments

1. The commitment year is unknown, so it is coded as 2013 (the project completion year) for the time being. 2. Loan terms are not disclosed in any available sources. AidData has assumed this is a concessional loan from China Eximbank, coded as Government Concessional Loan (GCL) due to the reference to it being a ‘soft loan’ and the use of ZTE as the implementing contractor. 3. This record has been marked as having evidence of financial distress because it was part of the debt restructuring agreements captured in records #95629, #105743, and #105742.