ICBC provides CFA 80.75 billion loan for Phase 1 of San Pedro University Construction Project

On September 10, 2018, Envol Partenariats-Côte d'Ivoire (Envol Partenariats CI)— a subsidiary of the Senegalese group Envol Immobilier — and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire a signed public-private partnership (PPP) agreement for Phase 1 of the San Pedro University Construction Project. Under the terms of the 16-year concession agreement, Envol Partenariats-Côte d'Ivoire was given responsibility for the financing, construction, and operation of the construction of the University of San Pedro (Universite de San Pedro, USP, 圣佩德罗大学). The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) agreed to provide a loan to Envol Partenariats CI for Phase 1 of San Pedro University Construction Project. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance 85% of the cost of a CFA 95 billion (EUR 128 million) EPC contract between Envol Partenariats-Côte d'Ivoire and Weihai International Economic & Technical Cooperative (WIETC). The Government of Cote d'Ivoire agreed to issue a sovereign guarantee in support of this loan. To facilitate repayment of the ICBC loan, the Government of Cote d'Ivoire also agreed to pay rent to Envol Partenariats CI over a period of fifteen years. The purpose of the project was to construct a new university town — consisting of consists of more than 100 buildings — in the city of San-Pedro (San Pedro). The 302-hectare project includes teaching spaces, recreational, leisure, sports and cultural spaces, a library, an accommodation campus with a kitchen and restaurants. The San Pedro University Construction Project is divided into four phases, with a total land area of 500,584.31m2 and a total building area of 205,071.33m2. Upon completion, San Pedro University is expected to accommodate 20,000 students. Phase 1 involved the construction of 40 buildings that can accommodate 3,000 students. Weihai International Economic & Technical Cooperative (WIETC) was the general EPC contractor responsible for Phase 1 implementation. However, there is also some evidence that China Communications Construction Company, Ltd. (CCCC), China Railway 19th Bureau Group Co Ltd, China Railway Urban Construction Group Co., Ltd. (中铁城建集团有限公司) were involved in Phase 1 implementation. A foundation stone laying ceremony took place on November 30, 2018. When the Ivorian Minister of Education inspected the project site in February 2020, construction activities were underway. The project encountered implementation delays in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, construction was completed on March 19, 2021. A grand opening ceremony for the University of San-Pedro subsequently took place on October 19, 2021.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 科特迪瓦圣佩德罗大学项目 or 科特迪瓦圣佩德罗体育场馆项目 or 科特迪瓦圣佩德罗体育场项目. The French project title is Nouveau Campus de San-Pédro or Les travaux de construction de l'Université de San Pedro or Project de la première tranche de l'université de San Pedro « USP-I» or Nouveau campus de San-Pédro 2. The overall project cost is 95 billion CFA, so 85% is 80.75 billion CFA (see: CNP-PPP pg. 5-6). 3. The PPP agreement (16-year concession agreement) was approved by the Council of Ministers on September 12, 2018. 4. It is unclear if ICBC only agreed to finance Phase 1 or Phase 1 and subsequent phases of the project. Several media reports indicate that ICBC ‘abruptly withdrew’ from the San Pedro University Construction Project in March 2021, forcing Envol Partenariats CI to turn to Nigeria's UBA and BNI as alternative lenders. However, given that Phase 1 was complete as of March 19, 2021, it seems unlikely that ICBC’s loan commitment for Phase 1 was suspended or canceled. It seems more likely that ICBC decided not to finance subsequent phases of the project. However, this issue merits further investigation. 5. The ICBC loan for Phase 1 of the San Pedro University 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.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

26