China Eximbank agrees to provide loan for the Namibia Institute of Pathology Renovation Project (Linked to umbrella project #1314)

On February 5, 2007 on an official tour across Africa, Chinese President Hu Jintao pledged to provide an RMB 1 billion concessional loan facility to be used at the discretion of the Government of Namibia (captured in the linked project #1314). The following borrowing terms would apply to subsidiary loans obtained through this facility: a 4.27% interest rate, a 15 year maturity, and a 5 year grace period. Then, in December 2007, China Eximbank and the Government of Namibia signed an RMB 1 billion concessional loan framework agreement, which identified several projects that would be funded according to a consistent set of terms and conditions. These projects reportedly included an RMB 300 million loan for the Modern Customs Scanning Equipment Acquisition Project (recorded in project ID#1241), a RMB 44 million loan for the Electronics Document and Record Management Systems (EDRMS) Project (recorded in project ID#1242), a $16.4 million loan for road construction in Eiseb Block Phase I (recorded in project ID #61037), and a $748,357 loan for Namibia Institute of Pathology (NIP) laboratories (recorded in this project). An additional RMB 645 million was reportedly set aside for three projects: Phase 2 of the Northern Railway Line Extension Project (see Project ID#1334), the Oshakati State Hospital Renovation Project (recorded in project ID#61034), and the Namibian Broadcasting Corporation Renovation Project (recorded in project ID#61036). This framework agreement was signed by China’s Ambassador to Namibia Ren Xiaoping and Nambia’s Minister of Finance Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila. However, in July 2009, Namibia’s Permanent Secretary of Finance Calle Schlettwein announced that he had notified the Chinese Government that the borrowing terms of the RMB 1 billion loan facility (captured in project ID#1314) were too financially onerous for the Government of Namibia. He told a local newspaper that 'We did not suspend any agreements, we just told them that the terms were too burdensome for our financial situation.’

Additional details

AidData has coded this project as a pledge rather than a commitment as it is not clear that a subsidiary loan agreement was ever signed for the Nambia Institute of Pathology Renovation Project.

Number of official sources

1

Number of total sources

5