ICBC provides $210 million buyer’s credit for Zambia National Service (ZNS) 2000 Affordable Housing Project

In 2018, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) provided a $210 million buyer’s credit (loan) to the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) for the Zambia National Service (ZNS) 2000 Affordable Housing Project. The terms of this loan are unknown. However, it is known that the proceeds from the loan were used to be used by the borrower to finance 85% of the cost of a $247 million commercial contract between Shandong Dejian Group Co., Ltd. and Zambia National Service (ZNS). The purpose of the project is to construct 2000 housing units for the Zambia National Service (ZNS) in all service cantonments across the country over a period of three years. According to the Dezhou Municipal People's Government (SourceID#151086), this project adopted an on-lending commercial loan model ("该项目采用转贷的商业贷款模式"). DBZ on-lent the funds to the developer, Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF), for hiring a project contractor. The borrowing terms are unknown. Project implementation commenced on March 30, 2017. The construction cycle for the project is three years, with the expected completion date to be in 2020. According a report published by SAIS-CARI in 2021, the ICBC loan had disbursed $84 million.

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the 2,000 Housing Units for Zambia National Service Project. The Chinese project title is 赞比亚国民卫队2000套经济适用房项目 or 国民卫队2000套经济适用房项目. 2. This may be the second phase of the Ministry of Defense Housing Project captured in Project ID#57377. The issue warrants further investigation. 3. The Zambia National Service abbreviated as ZNS is part of the Zambian Defence Force whose primary objective is to train Zambian citizens in agriculture and craft skills. it was formed in 1963 as a Land Army before it was renamed to Zambia National Service. 4. Due to the fact that the ICBC loan was used to finance 85% of the total cost of a commercial contract with Shandong Dejian Group Co., Ltd., AidData assumes that it was provided in the form of an export buyer’s credit. It is unclear if the export buyer’s credit is of a preferential nature or non-preferential nature. This issue warrants further investigation. 5. At the project commencement ceremony, the President of Zambia refereed to the Zambia National Service (ZNS) 2000 Affordable Housing Project as a joint venture between Zambia’s Ministry of Defence, Shandong Dejian Group Co., Ltd., and Zambia Cooperative Federation (ZCF). This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

5

Number of total sources

17