CDB provides $76.6 million loan for Longa Rice Planting Agro-Industrial Farm Project (Linked to Record ID#67)

Project narrative

On October 21, 2010, China CAMC Engineering Co., Ltd. (CAMCE) and Angola’s Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development and Fishery signed a $76.577 million commercial contract for the Longa Rice Planting Agro-Industrial Farm Project. Then, in 2012, China Development Bank approved a $76.577 million subsidiary loan for this project through a larger $1.5 billion common terms agreement that it signed with the Government of Angola (captured via Record ID#67). The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance the commercial contract that was signed on October 21, 2010. The Longa farm occupies 4,500 hectares of land in Longa town, 70 km away from Menongue, the capital city of Cuando Cubango Province. The project involved the construction of 1,500 hectares of rice farm alongside the bank of River Longa, irrigation facilities, grain drying, storage and processing facilities, office and dormitory buildings, and agricultural equipment. The first three years of the Longa Rice Planting Agro-Industrial Farm Project (and CAMCE contract period) were used to clear land, build farm infrastructure, and conduct plant experimentation; the final two years of the project (and CAMCE contract period) were used to train Angolan farmers in technology and land management. CAMCE was the contractor responsible for implementation. However, Gesterra, a land management company owned by the Angolan Ministry of Agriculture, Rural Development, and Fisheries, was also involved in the management of the project. Construction began in May 2012, and a project completion ceremony was held on June 3, 2014, at which point the farm employed 30 Chinese workers and 270 Angolan workers. The project was was officially handed over to the Angolan authorities on September 9, 2017.