ICBC and Standard Bank provide CFA 42 billion syndicated buyer’s credit loan for San Pédro Stadium Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#92251)

On March 6, 2018, ICBC and Standard Bank signed a syndicated buyer’s credit loan agreement worth CFA 42,080,765,991.49 with the Government of Cote d'Ivoire for the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project (captured via Project ID#60790). The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that Sinosure provided $81.67 million of credit insurance (covering the loan’s principal and interest). It is also known that the borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance a commercial (EPC) contract between China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Leisure, which was also signed on March 6, 2018. According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the syndicated loan from ICBC and Standard Bank had achieved a 92.3% disbursement rate (CFA 38,842,531,925.14 out of CFA 42,080,765,991.49) as of December 31, 2022. The lenders made 6 disbursements (worth CFA 38,842,531,925.14) between 2019 and 2022: a CFA 3,410,847,701 disbursement on December 31, 2019, a CFA 6,257,514,416 disbursement on January 31, 2020, a CFA 2,774,324,403 disbursement on February 28, 2020, a CFA 12,575,086,225 disbursement on April 30, 2021, a CFA 5,722,207,924.75 disbursement on December 31, 2021, and a CFA 8,102,551,255.39 disbursement on December 31, 2022. According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s AMP, a second loan — or bond issue contract (‘Contrat d'émission d'obligation Petrus’) — worth CFA 15,312,691,693.94 was issued by ICBC London to the Government of Cote d’Ivoire on December 13, 2018 in support of the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project and the Korhogo Stadium Construction Project. As of December 31, 2022, this loan (captured via Project ID#92251) had not yet disbursed. The purpose of the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project is to construct a new 20,000-seat Olympic stadium (with an area of 22,409 m², 2,000 parking spaces, access roads, and water, sanitation, electricity, and fiber optic infrastructure) in the western city of San Pédro (San Pedro) and an athletes' village (including 32 villas with five rooms each). Another objective of the project is to rehabilitate four training grounds (including the Auguste Denise stadium, a technical college, and a municipal high school). The San Pedro Olympic stadium is being built 200 meters from the road at the south-eastern entrance to the city of San Pedro near the road to Abidjan. It is being built in preparation for the facility to host the 2023 African Cup of Nations football tournament. The Côte d’Ivoire Branch of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) [CCECC-CI or 中国土木工程集团（科特迪瓦）有限公司] is the general EPC contractor responsible for implementation. China Railway 19th Bureau, China Railway Urban Construction Group (CRUC), and Omni Travaux (a French company) also appear to be serving as sub-contractors. On November 9, 2018, CCECC, China Railway 19th Bureau, and China Railway Urban Construction Group (CRUC) signed a cooperation agreement to carry out this project together. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 23, 2019. Construction was initially scheduled to end on December 31, 2020. However, as of June 13, 2020, Director General Mariame Koné of the Direction Office National des Sports (ONS) reported that the project had only achieved a 25% completion rate. Project implementation delays resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire not paying CCECC in a timely manner (upon receipt of invoices). As of the last quarter of 2020, the construction of the stadium resumed.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 20,000 Seat San Pedro Stadium Project and the Stadium of San Pédro, Côte d’Ivoire Project. The French project title is Construction du stade olympique de San Pedro, Le Stade de San-Pédro, or Chantier du Stade de San Pédro. The Chinese project title is 科特迪瓦圣佩德罗体育场项目 or 科特迪瓦圣佩德罗体育场项目 or 圣佩德罗体育场基础设施项目 or 科特迪瓦圣佩德罗体育场. 2. The exact size of ICBC’s contribution to the loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData has assumed that ICBC and Standard Bank contributed equal amounts (CFA 21,040,382,995.74) to the CFA 42,080,765,991.49 loan. 3. The ICBC loan for the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project is not included in the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) database that is managed by the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University and SAIS-CARI. 4. The system identification number for CFA 77.3 billion loan from ICBC and Standard Bank in the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP) is 1120071329393. The AMP system identification number for the CFA 15,312,691,693.94 loan (bond issue contract) from ICBC London is 1120071330047. 5. Some sources suggest that the loan agreement was signed in September 2018 rather than March 2018. This issue warrants further investigation. 6. Mrs. KONE Mariame Marries is the Project Coordinator.

Number of official sources

11

Number of total sources

27