CRSG provides $165 supplier credit for 62 km Wellington-Masiaka PPP Toll Highway Project

Project narrative

On December 22, 2015, the Government of Sierra Leone (represented by the Ministry of Works, Housing and Infrastructure) and China Railway Seventh Group (SL) Co. Ltd. -- a special purpose vehicle and wholly-owned subsidiary of China Railway Seventh Group -- signed a concession contract for the financing, design, construction, operation and maintenance of the 62 km Wellington-Masiaka PPP Toll Highway Project. Then, on March 3, 2016, CRSG (a subsidiary of China Railway Engineering Corporation) provided a $165 million supplier credit to China Railway Seventh Group (SL) Co. Ltd. for the 67 km Wellington-Masiaka Toll Highway Project. This loan carried a 27-year maturity, a 4-year grace period, and a 6% interest rate. It was to be repaid by charging motorists using the Wellington-Masiaka motorway at three toll stations (Jui, Mile 38, and Masiaka). The 62 km Wellington-Masiaka Toll Highway Project involved the upgrading of a 62 km road from Wellington (Yonibana) to Masiaka to a four-lane dual carriageway. It was to be undertaken as a Public-Private Partnership (PPP) between the Government of Sierra Leone and the Chinese Railway Seventh Group under a 25 year build, own, operate and transfer (BOOT) agreement (extended to 27 years later in 2017). The project officially commenced on April 25, 2016. On June 4, 2020 members of the Ministry of Works and Public Assets (MWPA) and Sierra Leone Roads Authority (SLRA) toured the Wellington-Masiaka Road Construction site. They noted COVID-19 as a major hinderance to the projects progression, as the project would have been completed in April 2020. As of June 4, 2020, the project is 70% completed. After completing the first phase of the construction of the project during the second quarter of 2017, China Railway Seventh Group started trial operations in August 2017. It also began collecting tolls in 2017. Then, in 2018, the Sierra Leone Road Transport Authority announced a technical and financial audit into the project and Parliament referred the report to the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) to take action. The project is known to have been completed by March 2024, but the exact completion date is unclear.