ICBC provide $106.4 million loan for Sumbe City, Cuanza Sul, Integrated Infrastructure Lot 2 - Drainage Project

On January 21, 2019, ICBC and the Government of Angola signed a $106,427,774 loan agreement for the Sumbe City, Cuanza Sul, Integrated Infrastructure Lot 2 - Drainage Project. The proceeds of the loan were to be used by the borrower to finance approximately 85% of the cost a $125,209,146 commercial contract between Angola’s Ministry of Construction and China Harbour Engineering Company Ltd (CHEC), which was signed in March 2017. Lot 2 involved the construction of drainage works, the rehabilitation of 13 km of streets, and the renovation of public lighting and telecommunications networks in Sumbe City. The project ultimately sought to address the city’s deficits related to mobility, access to clean water, and basic sanitation. The city of 200,000 inhabitants had become known for its problem with dust and the health consequences that resulted from this problem. Construction commenced on February 20, 2019, approximately three months after Lot 1 began implementation. As of November 2019, the project had achieved a 24% completion rate and it was estimated that construction would be completed by August 2020. Angola’s Minister of Public Works and Spatial Planning, Manuel Tavares de Alameida, visited the Lot 2 construction site in December 2020 and told reporters that 37% of the work on lot 2 had been carried out and that he expected completion of Lot 2 in 2022. At the time of the Minister’s visit, Lot 3 was still awaiting funding. The Minister explained that the Chinese line of credit that was supposed to finance Lot 3 had not been activated‚ and that the Angolan Government was seeking an alternative financier.

Additional details

1. The Portuguese project title is 1 Constr. das Infra-estructuras Integradas do Sumbe Lote 02. 2. According to an Angolan Ministry of Finance publication entitled ‘Conta Geral do Estado: Exercício Fiscal de 2019’ (http://www.ucm.minfin.gov.ao/cs/groups/public/documents/document/aw4x/mjq2/~edisp/minfin1246540.pdf), the Government of Angola secured multiple loan agreements with ICBC in 2019 worth AOA 209,000,000,000 ($689,700,000). However, as of August 2022, AidData had only identified a single ICBC loan agreement with the Government of Angola: the $106.4 million loan agreement for the Sumbe City, Cuanza Sul, Integrated Infrastructure Lot 2 - Drainage Project (captured via Project ID#91943). The World Bank’s Debtor Reporting System (DRS) records official sector lending commitments from China to the Government of Angola worth $4,193,153,000 in 2019 (see https://www.dropbox.com/s/kwxk7hpv0dyicpi/DRS%20Official%20Commitments%20from%20China%20through%202020.csv?dl=0). According to an anonymous source, most of the official sector loan commitments from China that the Government of Angola voluntarily disclosed to the DRS are from ICBC. These discrepancies warrant further investigation.

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