Chinese Government provides a RMB 40 million grant for the Zanguéra Agricultural Demonstration Center Construction Project

On February 23, 2008, the Chinese Government and the Government of Togo signed an agreement in which China agreed to provide a RMB 40 million (or CFA 3.1 billion) grant to Togo for the the Zanguéra Agricultural Demonstration Center Construction Project. China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) was the source of grant funding. The Government of Togo provided CFA 100 million franc of funding for the purchase provision of the 10 hectares of land, the connection of the center to the electric network, the construction of the access road, and the development of the center's storefront. The project involved the construction of an agricultural demonstration center in the town of Zanguéra (or Sanguera), on a road that runs 35 km northwest from the capital city of Lomé to Kpalimé (pg.22 of "The Chinese presence in agriculture in Togo Confidential interim report" and "Coopération sino-togolaise en matière de formation agricole"). The center occupies an area of 10 hectares. It included a two-story, 1,072 m² building that housed the administrative services and classrooms; a 442 m² dormitory building for trainees (with 15 double rooms to accommodate 30 trainees per session); a 766 m² building that provided accommodation for at least 18 experts and trainers; a 209 m² building for catering, which included a kitchen and a refectory; 2 sheds of around 1,000 m² that served as storage for the agricultural equipment, a hangar for drying harvest products of around 600 m², a pumping and a castle for the center's water supply; a 12,000 m³ water reservoir that collected water drained from the center and acted as a reserve for irrigation in the dry season and potential site of fish farming; and a basketball court, a library, and a multipurpose prayer hall. The center itself sat on two hectares of land; the other eight hectares were farmland for demonstrations, variety trials, and training. The ultimate purpose of the center is to train Togolese workers and farmers in modern agricultural production techniques, especially in rice. The operation of the center was programmed in three phases: a first, three-year phase with Chinese Government technical and financial assistance funding, a second, seven-year phase during which the center was expected to be self-financing through agricultural production sales and training activities, and a third phase in which the technical and financial management of the center was fully transferred to the Togolese side, ten years after the beginning of the first phase. Jiangxi Huachang Infrastructure Engineering Co., Ltd. was the contractor responsible for implementation. It signed a construction contract with the Government of Togo on March 21, 2008. A foundation stone laying ceremony for the center was held on October 1, 2008. A groundbreaking ceremony was held on October 22, 2008. The center began to train people in February 2012. The center was officially inaugurated on April 25, 2012 in the presence of the President of Togo, Faure Gnassingbé, and Chinese Ambassador to Togo, Zuofeng Wang. The end of financial aid from the Chinese Government was announced on September 17, 2014. By that time, 840 training courses had already been provided (18 training courses with 40 to 50 participants each, on average) by the center

Additional details

This project is also known as the Sanguera Agricultural Demonstration Center Construction Project or Zanguera Agricultural Technology Pilot Center Construction Project. The Chinese project title is 中国援多哥农业技术示范中心项目 or 多哥农业技术示范中心项目. The French project title is Le Centre de Formation en Technique Agricole or Le centre pilote des techniques agricoles de Sanguera or Le Centre pilote des techniques agricoles de Zanguéra or Le Centre de Sanguera. Several sources report alternative implementers: Huachang International Economic and Technical Corporation in Jiangxi Province (pg.11 of "Sino-Africa Agricultural Cooperation Experience Sharing") and Jiangxi Zhongmei Engineering Construction Co., Ltd. (see pg.31 of "Summary of four case studies on Chinese interventions in the agricultural sectors of Ivory Coast, Ethiopia, Senegal and Togo"; their website "Foreign Aid Projects" also features the center). AidData conducted suggests (but does not confirm) that these companies are related, which would explain the range of reported implementer. For now, AidData has coded Jiangxi Huachang Infrastructure Co., Ltd. as the implementer because it is the most commonly-stated implementer, reported by both government and media sources.

Number of official sources

15

Number of total sources

26