Chinese bank pledges to support EPC+F contract for Port-Bouët Housing Project

On March 5, 2019, Société Ivoirienne de Construction et de Gestion Immobilière (Sicogi) and China Overseas Engineering Group Co.,Ltd. (COVEC) — a subsidiary of China Railway International Group (CRIG) — signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) for the construction of 2,833 housing units in Port-Bouët. The signing ceremony was co-chaired by Gan Baixian, President of CRIG, and Bouaké Fofana, CEO of Sicogi. The agreement was signed by Zhang Lankun, CEO of Covec and Souaga Loukou Hyacynthe, director of programs at Sicogi. Then, on July 3, 2019, COVEC and Sicogi signed a $4.1 billion (RMB 27.965 billion and CFA 2350 billion) EPC+F contract for the Port-Bouët Housing Project. Under the terms of the EPC+F contract, COVEC agreed to build 50,000 houses at Port-Bouët New City suburban commune of Abidjan. This project also involves the installation of a prefabricated materials plant to service the subregion.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 为科特迪瓦阿比让Port Bouet新城5万套住房项目 or Port Bouet新城5万套住房项目. 2. The Ivorian government denied the existence of the contract on July 5, 2019. At the same time, it sought to find partners to implement the project. 3. Under most EPC+F contractual arrangements, a loan is extended to the EPC contractor but with a sovereign guarantee from the host government. Therefore, AidData assumes that the loan to COVEC will be backed by a repayment guarantee from the Government of Cote d'Ivoire (i.e. a sovereign guarantee). It is unclear which Chinese bank will finance the EPC+F contract. This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

7

Number of total sources

20