China Eximbank provides $175.1 million buyer’s credit loan for Oyala 500 Housing Units Construction Project (Linked to Project ID#484)

In 2006, China Eximbank and the Government of Equatorial Guinea signed a $2 billion oil-backed buyer’s credit facility agreement for various infrastructure projects (captured in Project ID#484). All subsidiary loans approved under this facility agreement carry the following terms: a 5.5% interest rate, a 5 year maturity, and a 2 year grace period. Then, in 2017, China Eximbank and the Government of Equatorial Guinea signed a $175,100,000 subsidiary buyer’s credit loan agreement for the Oyala 500 Housing Units Construction Project. The proceeds of the loan were used to be used by the borrower to partially finance a commercial (EPC) contract between the Government to Equatorial Guinea and China Bengbu International Technology and Economic Cooperation (CBITEC). According to Caja Autónoma de Amortización de la Deuda Pública within Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Finance and Budget, the China Eximbank buyer’s credit loan for the project had disbursed $30,900,000 as of December 31, 2019 and the borrower had made principal ($12,360,000.00) and interest ($3,039,186.67) repayments worth $15,399,186.67 as of December 31, 2019. The project involves the construction of 500 social housing units in Oyala (or Djibloho), which is a city in Equatorial Guinea that is being built to replace the national capital of Malabo. The President of Equatorial Guinea has said that Malabo (the official capital on the island of Bioko) is vulnerable to coup attempts because those who seek to overthrow the government can arrive by sea, necessitating the construction of a new inland capital, Oyala, which is not far from the President’s home village. China Construction First Building (Group) Corporation Limited (中建一局签) — a wholly-owned subsidiary of China State Construction Engineering Corporation Ltd. — and CBITEC are the contractors responsible for project implementation. This project reached implementation, but faced major challenges and delays. In May 2023, Equatorial Guinea's Vice President Teodoro Nguema Obiang Mangué said that China Construction First Building (Group) Corporation Limited was at risk of breaching its contractual obligations to the Government of Equatorial Guinea and it had 30 days to explain in writing why it had stopped working on the Oyala 500 Housing Units Construction Project.

Additional details

1. The Spanish project title is Proyecto de Construcción de 500 Viviendas en Oyala or Construcción de 500 viviendas sociales en Oyala or 2.000 Unidades de Viviendas Sociales en OYALA. The Chinese project title is 奥雅拉的社会住房项目，赤道几内亚 or 社会住房项目奥雅拉. SAIS-CARI and Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center refer to this as the ‘Oyala (Djibloho) New Capital: 500 Units of Social Housing’ Project. 2. The face value of the loan is drawn from ‘Cuadro General de la deuda al 31/12/2019’ from the Caja Autónoma de Amortización de la Deuda Pública within Equatorial Guinea’s Ministry of Finance and Budget. 3. Some sources (including the CBITEC website) suggest that the scope of the project was eventually expanded from 500 social housing units to 2000 social housing units.

Number of official sources

10

Number of total sources

11