China Eximbank provides RMB 567 million government concessional loan for Telecommunications Network Modernization Project (Linked to Project ID#53292)

On December 11, 2018, China Eximbank and La Société Comorienne de Télécommunication (Comores Télécom) — a state-owned telecommunication operator in Comoros — signed an RMB 567,000,000 ($85,826,411.40) government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the Telecommunications Network Modernization Project. The GCL carries the following borrowing terms: a 30-year maturity, a 5-year grace period, and a 1% interest rate. The borrower is expected to use the proceeds of the GCL to finance an $81 million commercial contract that it signed with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. in 2017. The purpose of the project is to renovate and modernize the infrastructure Comores Télécom and expand the ‘Huri network’ and cover the entire country. More specifically, it involves the extension of a fiber to the home (FTTH) network to 57 additional sites. The project also seeks to build upon the achievements of the China Eximbank-financed National Fiber Optic Backbone Transmission Network Project (captured via Project ID#53292). Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is the contractor responsible for project implementation. On March 22, 2022, Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and Comores Télécom officially launched the Nafassi FTTH to provide household access to to high-speed Internet, television and landline telephone services (via submarine cables).

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Network Modernization Project, Phase 2 of the National Fiber Optic Backbone Transmission Network Project, and the Fixed-Mobile Convergence (FMC) Project. The French project title is Phase 2 of Projet Cable Optique or Le Projet Eassy de câble marin à fibre optique. The Chinese project title is 援科摩罗固定移动融合网络现代化项目 and FMC项目. 2. The World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System (DRS) identifies the face value of the loan as $85,826,411.40. 3. It is possible that the GCL was first issued to the Government of Comoros, which in turn on-lent the proceeds of the loan to Comores Télécom. This issue warrants further investigation. 4. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in 2020 and re-released in 2021, the borrowing terms of this loan are not identified. AidData relies on the borrowing terms of the loan that are recorded by IMF Country Report No. 19/272.

Number of official sources

8

Number of total sources

16