Bank of China provides CFA 42.7 billion loan for Phase 1 of Ministry of Interior and Security Unified Communication System Project (Linked to Project ID#53273 and ID#92201)

On August 31, 2018, the Government of Côte d'Ivoire signed a set of loan agreements with Bank of China for Phase 1 of the Digital Education Project (captured via Project ID#89413 and Project ID#91764) and Phase 1 of the Ministry of Interior and Security Unified Communication System Project (captured via Project ID#89415 and Project ID#92201). According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), Bank of China signed two loan agreements with the Government of Côte d'Ivoire for Phase 1 of the Ministry of Interior and Security Unified Communication System Project: a CFA 42,754,805,764.67 loan agreement (captured via Project ID#89415) and a CFA 7,018,739,900 loan agreement (captured via Project ID#92201). The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the CFA 42,754,805,764.67 loan to finance 85% of the cost of the commercial contract between Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and Côte d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Interior and Security. It was expected to use the proceeds of the CFA 7,018,739,900 loan to finance 15% of the cost of the commercial contract between Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. and Côte d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Interior and Security. As of April 2022, 6 disbursements (worth CFA 42,077,004,262) had been made under the CFA 42,754,805,764.67 loan: a CFA 9,568,049,781 disbursement on June 30, 2019, a CFA 15,478,003,812 disbursement on October 31, 2019, a CFA 10,938,194,160 disbursement on January 31, 2020, a CFA 3,896,402,757 disbursement on March 31, 2020, a CFA 827,825,441 on May 31, 2020, and a disbursement of CFA 1,368,528,311 on August 31, 2020. A single disbursement was made under the CFA 7,018,739,900 loan: a CFA 7,019,988,777 disbursement on April 30, 2019. The purpose of the project is to establish a unified and secure communication system for Côte d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Interior and Security. It reportedly involves an expansion in the geographical scope of the video surveillance system that Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. initially installed in the capital city of Abidjan with support from China Eximbank (as captured via Project ID#53273). A key objective of the project is to install video surveillance equipment in major cities within the country’s interior and on the country’s borders. The Ministry of Interior and Security is reportedly interested in using these technologies to strengthen surveillance in the country’s northern region (to address incursions by militant groups that are active in the Sahel). Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is the EPC contractor responsible for implementation. However, AidData has not yet identified any evidence of project implementation.

Additional details

1. The French project title is Le projet de la vidéo-surveillance des grandes agglomérations de l’intérieur or Projet de mise en place d'un système d’information intégré pour les forces armées de Côte d’Ivoire. The Chinese project title is 科特迪瓦国家教育网和国防网项目 or 国防网 or 国防部统一通工程项目 or 署的科特迪瓦国防部统一通工程项目. 2. Neither Bank of China loan for Phase 1 of the Ministry of Interior and Security Unified Communication System Project is included in the Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) database that is managed by the Global Development Policy Center at Boston University and SAIS-CARI. 3. The AMP system identification number for the CFA 42,754,805,764.67 loan from Bank of China is 1120071329398. The AMP system identification number for the CFA 7,018,739,900 loan from Bank of China is 1120071331057. 4. The AMP identifies the loan commitment date for both loans as November 9, 2018 rather than August 31, 2018. This issue warrants further investigation.

Number of official sources

3

Number of total sources

17