China Eximbank pledges loan for PK12-PK74 and PK94-PK105 Sections of National Road 1 Rehabilitation Project

Project narrative

According to the Gabonese Government (source ID: 72320), China Eximbank agreed — at least in principle — to issue it a loan worth CFA 9,783,000,000 in 2018 to finance the rehabilitation of the PK12-PK74 and PK94-PK105 sections of National Road 1. The project involves widening and rehabilitating the section of the road that connects Gabon's capital Libreville to the rest of the country in order to reduce traffic and create jobs in the area. The Government of Gabon awarded the contract for the project to China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. (CSCEC) in the late March 2018. However, the Gabonese Government subsequently terminated its contract with CSCEC due to a contract dispute when CSCEC did not follow an agreement to pre-finance the project's development with CFA 50 billion. The project was originally scheduled to begin implementation in June 2018 and end implementation 22 months later. However, the Government of Gabon’s loan application was rejected by China Eximbank in May 2018 and the Gabonese Government was unable to finance the work. As of July 12, 2019, the project had still not begun implementation with CSCEC claiming they the Government of Gabon was in arrears on previous Chinese construction projects, such as the Sports Palace and the repair of the Embassy of Gabon in China. One source (source ID 92061) claims that the first part of the pre-financing was been released. However, after the Gabonese Government terminated its contract with CSCEC, it began looking for other sources for funding, including the African Development Bank.