Chinese Government provides CFA 20.69 billion interest-free loan for Ebimpé Olympic Stadium Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#53269, #85370)

On November 4, 2014, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire signed an RMB 300 million (CFA 25,710,000,000) interest-free loan agreement for the Ebimpé Olympic Stadium Construction Project. This loan carries the following borrowing terms: a 25-year maturity, a 15-year grace-period, and a 0% interest rate. It is scheduled for repayment between December 1, 2029 and November 30, 2039. In addition to this loan, this stadium project was financed by an additional grant and interest-free loan from the Chinese Government: (1) a CFA 11.9 billion grant provided in March 2017 (captured via Project ID#85370), and (2) a CFA 20.69 million interest-free loan issued on February 22, 2016 (captured via Project ID#73441). The loan and grant proceeds were to be used to finance an RMB 750,000,000 (CFA 63,990,243,240) commercial contract [ID#2016-0-2-1417/02-29 between Ivorian Government and Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG), which was signed on July 22, 2016. The Ivorian Government was responsible for providing CFA 4 billion of counterpart financing for earthworks and the installation of water, electrical and telecommunications infrastructure at the project site. This project involved the construction of a 60,012 seat stadium in Ebimpé within the Anyama sub-prefecture. It also involved the construction of an Olympic village surrounding the stadium, which has 4 housing estates, a training complex, administrative buildings, a commercial area, a clinic, a 4-star hotel, a 9-hole golf course, and of a medium voltage power line (15 kV) dedicated to the stadium (from the Yopougon 2 HV/MV transformer station to the industrial zone). Additionally, it involved the construction of a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena. Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) was the contractor responsible for implementation. It hired approximately 1000 workers, of which 350 were Chinese and 650 were Ivorian. Project implementation commenced on December 10, 2016. Then, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 22, 2016 (originally planned for January 2016). Shortly thereafter, on December 31, 2016, the Chinese Government made a loan disbursement worth CFA 14 billion. An electrical connection for the project site was established on August 18, 2017. Foundation pile construction was completed on September 26, 2017. Construction was expected to last 24 months and project was originally expected to reach completion on October 21, 2019.When the Ivorian Minister of Sports inspected the construction site in August 2018, the project had achieved a 50% completion rate and its expected completion (delivery) date had been pushed back to November 21, 2019. An opening ceremony for the stadium took place on October 3, 2020. It was completed in advance of the the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations football (soccer) tournament. According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the project encountered several problems during implementation, including ‘bad behavior’ among Chinese team leaders towards the workers on the project site, a lack of protective equipment for workers, a worker strike on October 23, 2017 for better wages and improved working conditions, and non-compliance with the contractual deadlines for the execution of the project.

Additional details

1. This stadium is also known as the Alassane Ouattara Olympic Stadium (Stade Olympique Alassane Ouattara). 2. The Chinese project title is 科特迪瓦阿比让体育场项目 or 艾宾贝奥林匹克体育场施. The French project title is Projet du stade Olympique d'Ebimpé. 3. The RMB 300 million loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via https://www.dropbox.com/s/rwpk51m9id49llw/EBIMPE%20-ACCORD%20CI%20GOUV%20CHINE.pdf?dl=0. 4. The AMP system identification number for the RMB 300 million loan is 11200713583. The AMP project code is 78081000181. 5. No sources explicitly state that the face value of the loan issued on February 22, 2016 was CFA 20.69 billion. According to the Government of Cote d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the Chinese Government provided CFA 67,319,989,326 (or approximately RMB 714.6 million) in total funding for this project. Therefore, AidData assumes that the face value of the interest-free loan contracted on February 22, 2016 is equivalent to the difference (CFA 20.69 billion) between that aggregate amount (CFA 67.3 billion) and the sum of the November 2014 loan amount (CFA 25.71 billion or RMB 300 million) of the March 2017 grant amount (CFA 11.9 billion). However, it is possible that the value of the interest-free loan is slightly higher than CFA 20.69 billion. The AMP includes another record (system ID#1120071337612) for a CFA 25,716,072,291.99 loan, which was issued on November 4, 2014, for a project called ‘Projet de construction de stade à Abidjan’. This issue warrants further investigation. 6. Since the borrowing terms of the CFA 20.69 billion interest-free loan are unavailable, AidData has set maturity period to 20 years by default and grace period to 10 years by default per China's Foreign Assistance White Paper (http://www.cidca.gov.cn/2018-08/06/c_129925064_3.htm) which states that the maturity period of interest-free loans is 20 years, with a drawdown period of 5 years, grace period of 5 years, and repayment over 10 years. AidData treats the drawdown period as providing 5 years of additional grace. 7. Ebimpé Olympic Stadium is a circular building built on a rectangular plot of 20 hectares (200,000 m²). It consists of five levels with a main reinforced concrete structure and a membrane structure cover, supported by a lattice steel frame.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

13