China Eximbank provides $63 million buyer’s credit loan for Phase I of the 141 km Umm Ruwaba-Abu Gebieha Road Project (Linked to Record ID#57039)

Project narrative

On July 29, 2008, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Government of Sudan signed a $3 billion oil-backed master framework agreement (or line of credit) to finance various infrastructure projects (captured via Record ID#57039). This resources-credit cooperation package is backed by future revenues from the sale of oil exports. Each subsidiary buyer’s credit loan (BCL) issued through the framework agreement carries a 15-year maturity and 5.6% interest rate. One of the subsidiary loans approved through this agreement in 2009 was a $63 million BCL for Phase I of the 141 km Umm Ruwaba-Abu Gebieha Road Project. Phase I involved the construction of a 141 km road that begins in Umm Ruwaba (أم روّاب) in North Kordofan State and extends southward in flat terrain to the town of Abu Gebeiha (أبو جبيهة) in South Kordofan State. Sinohydro Group Limited was the EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. However, Technocon Engineering Group (a Sudanese contracting company) was also involved in the construction of the road (most likely as a subcontractor). The project's groundbreaking ceremony was held on February 9, 2010. The project was originally scheduled to be completed in March 2013. The project implementation's encountered significant implementation difficulties because the construction team's campsite was attacked by rebel forces on January 28, 2012, and 29 Chinese workers were kidnapped. The Chinese contractor did not return to Sudan, and Phase I appears to have been completed by Technocon Engineering Group, reportedly on or around February 21, 2018. There are some indications that the China Eximbank loan issued for Phase I of the 141 km Umm Ruwaba-Abu Gebieha Road Project may have underperformed vis-a-vis lender expectations. According to Sudan’s Finance Minister Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool, China Eximbank suspended its financing for 11 projects in Sudan following the secession of South Sudan in July 2011, which triggered a major loss of oil revenue (a key source of collateral for China Eximbank loans). Ali Mahmood Abdel-Rasool said at the time that the Government of Sudan had previously pledged oil revenues (worth 120,000 barrels per day) to China Eximbank as a source of collateral. Then, on February 18, 2012, the Chinese Government announced that it had agreed to reschedule the outstanding debt obligations of the Government of Sudan by extending loan repayment periods by 5 years (as captured via Record ID#30421). According to the External Debt Unit of the Central Bank of Sudan, the Government of Sudan's total arrears to Chinese creditors amounted to $3.864 billion ($2.608 billion in principal, $1.129 billion in interest, and $127 million in penalty interest) as of March 31, 2022.