Chinese Government provides RMB 33 million interest-free loan for Phase 1 of High-Performance Computing Center Project (Linked to Record ID#62405, #62408)

Project narrative

In 2015, the Chinese Government provided an RMB 33 million interest-free loan for Phase 1 of the High Performance Computing Center. This loan was originally intended for the 2015-2017 timeframe but was not actually distributed for unspecified reasons. Then, on April 3, 2018 during President Emmerson Mnangawa's visit to China, the two sides signed bilateral cooperation agreements in the fields of economy and technology, agriculture, science and technology, and human resources development. At the time of signing, Zimbabwe was still processing paperwork related to the RMB 33 million transaction from 2015. This project involved the installation of a supercomputer facility (high-performance computing center) at the University of Zimbabwe. The facility was expected to be used in agriculture, weather forecast, mining, gene technology, and stimulation, and support scientific research in Zimbabwe. The project also involved the training of dozens of Zimbabwean researchers on how to operate the supercomputer. Inspur Group — China's leading personal computer and server manufacturer — and Dameng were both involved in the implementation of the project. On February 6, 2015, the project was officially completed and and handed over to the University of Zimbabwe. In 2017, the Chinese Government supported Phase 2 of this project with an RMB 100 million grant (see Record ID#62405). Another Chinese Government grant was provided in 2018 (see Record ID#62408).