China Eximbank provides $7.91 million buyer’s credit for GSM Mobile Telecommunication Network Project

In 2004, China Eximbank and the Government of Burundi signed a $7.91 million buyer’s credit loan agreement for Phase 1 of a GSM Mobile Telecommunication Network Project. This loan has a 7 year maturity. The proceeds from this loan agreement were used to fund ONATEL’s service contract with Huawei Technologies. The agreement was guaranteed by the African Trade Insurance Company (AFT). Office national des télécommunications du Burundi (ONATEL) is the country’s state-owned telecommunications operator. The purpose of this project was to extend the country’s mobile telecommunication network from 30,000 lines/users to 60,000 lines/users and it was implemented in three phases. Phase 1 of the project focused on the capital city of Bujumbura. Phase 1 of the project began in June 2005 and it was completed on August 4, 2006. All phases of the project were completed by November 2014.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 布隆迪GSM移动通讯项目 or 的布隆迪国家电讯公司GSM 6万线移动通讯项目. 2. One source indicated that the project was initially going to be funded through an export seller’s credit but it was ultimately funded through an export buyer’s credit. The buyer’s credit loan that supported this project is omitted from the SAIS-CARI database of Chinese loan commitments that was released in July 2020.

Number of official sources

12

Number of total sources

14