Chinese Government provides CFA 13.1 billion grant — via ETCA — for Grand Bassam High School Construction Project

In August 2016, the Chinese Ambassador to Cote d'Ivoire and the Ivorian Foreign Minister signed letters of exchange in which the Chinese Government agreed to finance the Grand Bassam High School Construction Project. Both parties signed an implementation agreement October 2, 2016. Then, on March 27, 2017 during the 3rd session on Sino-Ivorian Joint Economic, Trade, and Technical Commission, the Chinese Vice Minister of Trade and the Ivorian Minister of Foreign Affairs signed an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ETCA), which committed CFA 25 billion of grant funding for two projects: CFA 13.1 billion for the Grand Bassam High School Construction Project (captured via Project ID#66062) and CFA 11.9 billion for the Ebimpé Olympic Stadium Construction Project (as captured via Project #85370). According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the Chinese Government grant for the Grand Bassam High School Construction Project achieved a 64.3% disbursement rate. The Chinese Government disbursed CFA 8,424,194,512 in three disbursements between 2017 and 2019; a CFA 910,350,000 disbursement on October 31, 2017, a CFA 5,000,000,000 on December 31, 2018, a CFA 2,513,844,512 disbursement on October 8, 2019. The Ivorian Government also committed CFA 1,571,565,000 of counterpart funding for the Grand Bassam High School Construction Project on October 10, 2016. It ultimately disbursed CFA 1,346,132,342 between 2017 and 2022. The Grand Bassam High School Construction Project involved the construction of a high school of excellence on the outskirts of the city of Grand-Bassam (Lycée d'excellence à Grand-bassam). More specifically, it involved the construction of housing, teaching buildings, laboratories, libraries and sports fields accommodating 1,000 students. Jiangsu Nantong Sanjian Construction Group was the contractor responsible for implementation. Construction commenced on November 23, 2017. Then, on December 4, 2017, a foundation stone laying ceremony took place and the Ivorian President named the school after himself: Alassane Ouattara High School of Excellence in Grand Bassam (Lycée d'Excellence Alassane Ouattara de Grand-Bassam). The project was completed on May 23, 2019. It received a project acceptance certificate from China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) on June 13, 2019. A formal project handover ceremony took place on September 4, 2019. The AMP notes that this project was plagued by cash flow problems.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Grand Bassam School of Excellence Construction Project. The Chinese project title is 了大巴萨姆阿拉萨内·瓦塔拉精英学校 or 科特迪瓦精英学校项目 or 大巴萨姆中科友谊精英学校. The French project title is Projet de construction d'un lycée d'excellence à Grand-bassam. 2. The system identification number for this project in the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP) is 1120071519431. The AMP project code is 412960401.

Number of official sources

14

Number of total sources

18