China Eximbank provides $509,433,034.27 buyer’s credit loan for Package 5 of the N’Zeto-Soyo Highway Project (Linked to Project ID#34750, #73903)

In 2011, the Government of Angola reportedly drew down on one or more of its lines of credit (master loan facility agreements) with China Eximbank to obtain two subsidiary buyer’s credit loans for the 149 km N’Zeto-Soyo Highway Construction Project: a $46 million buyer’s credit loan for Package 7 of the N’Zeto-Soyo Highway Construction Project and an $85 million buyer’s credit loan for Package 5 of the N’Zeto-Soyo Highway Construction Project. Package 5 involved the construction of a 96.9 km two-way, four-lane, highway segment (Km 8 + 800 to Km 104 + 800) in Zaire Province. Package 7 involved the construction of bridges over the Lucunga, Quimiana, Moanda, Sango, Luculo, Bua, Quimbuenbo and Kifuma rivers. These bridges collectively measure 2.4 km in length. Sinohydro Engineering Bureau 4 Co,. Ltd was the contractor responsible for implementation. It was reported to have signed approximately a $600 million construction contract with the Government of Angola on December 1, 2008. However, it appears as though Presidential Order n°32/14 from April 2, 2014 approved the commercial contract between National Institute of Estradas de Angola (INEA) and the company Sinohydro, in the equivalent amount in Kwanzas in the amount of $514,578,031.66. A 2016 report from República de Angola Tribunal de Contas records the contract amount as $605,385,919.60. Construction began on April 19, 2009; however, due to ‘financial difficulties’ (which appear to be in line with the increased construction contract costs), construction was halted for a number of years until the Government of Angola and China Eximbank loan signed a third (Sinosure-backed) buyer’s credit loan agreement worth $509,433,034.27 on September 25, 2015 for Package 5 of the N’Zeto-Soyo Highway Construction Project. Construction restarted in May 2016, and the road was opened to traffic on August 17, 2017. Project ID#34750 captures the $85 million loan from China Eximbank, and Project ID#73903 captures the $46 million loan from China Eximbank. Project ID#65330 captures the $509,433,034.27 loan from China Eximbank. As of December 31, 2018, Angola’s Ministry of Finance reported that the total amount outstanding (including principal and capitalized interest) under the $509,433,034.27 China Eximbank loan was $334 million. As of December 31, 2021, Angola’s Ministry of Finance reported that the total amount outstanding (including principal and capitalized interest) under the $509,433,034.27 China Eximbank loan was $332 million.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 恩赞托－索尤公路 or 安哥拉索约公路 or 恩泽托-索约公路 or 安哥拉索约公路项目一期二阶段. The Portuguese project title is Construção da Auto-estrada N’Zeto/Soyo Pacote 5. 2. Sinohydro reports that September 25, 2008 was the project implementation start date (prior to the signing of the construction contract on on December 1, 2008); however, AidData relies on the project implementation start date (April 19, 2009) that follows the signing of the construction contract. 3. This project may have been financed through the 2007 China Eximbank MLFA (captured via Project ID#31742) or the 2009 China Eximbank MLFA (captured via Project ID#34031). This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

9

Number of total sources

15