COVEC provides emergency supplier credit worth 600 million CFAF to Sino-Malian Textile Company

Project narrative

In 2018, China Overseas Engineering Group Co. Ltd. (COVEC), a subsidiary of the state-owned China Railway Group Limited (CREC), provided an emergency supplier credit worth 600 million CFA francs to La Compagnie Malienne de Textile (COMATEX S.A. or 马里纺织股份有限公) for unspecified purposes. The borrowing terms of this loan are unknown. COMATEX S.A. was a Malian state-owned textile company established with assistance from the Chinese Government in 1967. It was subsequently “privatized” and it is now jointly owned by COVEC (80% equity stake) and the Government of Mali (20% equity stake). The PCA asked COVEC, the majority shareholder, to grant an emergency loan of CFAF 600 million to the company, and for the Malian State to grant an emergency loan of 200 million FCFA to COMATEX. The COMATEX S.A. textile factory is located on the outskirts of the city of Ségou and it has the capacity of produce 2,400 tonnes of fiber per year. Its current production of 650 looms is around 10 million square meters of printed fabric. It also produces dyed yarn.