ICBC London provides CFA 15.3 billion loan for San Pédro Stadium Construction Project and the Korhogo Stadium Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#60790 and Record ID#92249)

Project narrative

According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), ICBC and Standard Bank issued a buyer’s credit loan worth CFA 77,346,969,238 to the Government of Cote d'Ivoire for the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project on March 6, 2018 (captured via Record ID#60790). The borrowing terms of this loan are unknown. However, it is known that Sinosure provided $81.67 million of credit insurance (covering the loan’s principal and interest). It is also known that the borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance a commercial (EPC) contract between China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Youth, Sports, and Leisure, which was also signed on March 6, 2018. As of April 2022, 4 disbursements (worth CFA 28,017,772,745) had been made through this loan: a CFA 3,410,847,701 disbursement on December 31, 2019, a CFA 6,257,514,416 disbursement on January 31, 2020, a CFA 2,774,324,403 disbursement on February 28, 2020, and a CFA 12,575,086,225 disbursement on April 30, 2021. According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), ICBC and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire also signed a CFA 64,767,380,324 loan agreement for the Korhogo Stadium Construction Project on March 6, 2018. The borrowing terms of the loan are unknown. However, it is known that the borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the loan to finance a commercial contract between the Government of Cote d'Ivoire and China National Building Material Group Co., Ltd. (CNBM), which was signed in March 2018. As of April 2022, 4 ICBC loan disbursements (worth CFA 31,351,220,060) had been made: a CFA 4,082,738,500 disbursement on December 31, 2019, a CFA 7,503,089,128 disbursement on January 31, 2020, a CFA 2,043,067,044 disbursement on February 28, 2020, and a CFA 14,722,325,388 disbursement on June 30, 2021. Additionally, according to the AMP, a loan — or bond issue contract (‘Contrat d'émission d'obligation Petrus’) — worth CFA 15,312,691,693.94 was issued by ICBC London to the Government of Cote d’Ivoire on December 13, 2018 in support of the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project and the Korhogo Stadium Construction Project. As of April 2022, this loan (captured via Record ID#92251) had not yet disbursed. The purpose of the San Pédro Stadium Construction Project was to construct a new 20,000-seat Olympic stadium (with an area of 22,409 m², 2,000 parking spaces, access roads, and water, sanitation, electricity, and fiber optic infrastructure) in the western city of San Pédro (exact locational coordinates: 4.816944, -6.629444) and an athletes' village (including 32 villas with five rooms each). Another objective of the project was to rehabilitate four training grounds (including the Auguste Denise stadium, a technical college, and a municipal high school). The San Pedro Olympic stadium was built 200 meters from the road at the south-eastern entrance to the city of San Pedro near the road to Abidjan. It was financed and built in preparation for the facility to host the 2023 African Cup of Nations football tournament. The Côte d’Ivoire Branch of China Civil Engineering Construction Corporation (CCECC) [CCECC-CI or 中国土木工程集团（科特迪瓦）有限公司] was the general EPC contractor responsible for implementation. China Railway 19th Bureau, China Railway Urban Construction Group (CRUC), and Omni Travaux (a French company) also apparently served as sub-contractors. On November 9, 2018, CCECC, China Railway 19th Bureau, and China Railway Urban Construction Group (CRUC) signed a cooperation agreement to carry out the project together. A groundbreaking ceremony took place on February 23, 2019. Construction was initially scheduled to end on December 31, 2020. However, as of June 13, 2020, Director General Mariame Koné of the Direction Office National des Sports (ONS) reported that the project had only achieved a 25% completion rate. Project implementation delays resulted from the Covid-19 pandemic and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire not paying CCECC in a timely manner (upon receipt of invoices). As of the last quarter of 2020, the construction of the stadium resumed. The project ultimately reached completion in September 2023. The Laurent Pokou Stadium hosted its inaugural official match on September 9, 2023, when Ivory Coast secured a 1–0 victory over Lesotho in a 2023 Africa Cup of Nations qualifier. According to a February 2024 New York Times article,'[Ivorian] [g]overnment officials said local teams would use the [stadium] infrastructure once the [2023 African Cup of Nations football] tournament was over, but in the resort town of San Pedro, home to a new 20,000-seat stadium built by a Chinese company, the city’s main soccer club said the facility was too big for its needs.' Abdelkarim Bouaziz, an executive at F.C. San Pedro, told the New York Times that '[a]t best we might manage to fill it at 30 percent. [...] But we won’t be able to pay for its maintenance.' The purpose of the Korhogo Stadium Construction Project was to construct a 20,000-seat stadium in the town of Korhogo (with a parking lot to accommodate 2,000 vehicles and water, sanitation, electricity, and fiber optic infrastructure), construct a 3-star hotel with 50 beds, construct 32 (4x8) villas (with 5 rooms each) to support 4 teams, and either construct or rehabilitate training grounds for athletes and local high schools (including the Dominique Ouattara high school stadium and the Houphouetboigny high school stadium). Upon completion, the 20,000-seat stadium (exact coordinates: 9.409722, -5.628889) was expected to host the 2023 Africa Cup of Nations. China National Building Material Co., Ltd. (CNBM) was the general EPC contractor responsible for project implementation. However, Metallurgical Corporation of China (MCC) was also involved (most likely as a subcontractor). Construction began on or around May 19, 2019. However, the project faced multiple problems and delays due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Construction was at a standstill for much of 2020. It finally resumed in the last quarter of 2020. Project implementation also suffered from insufficient manpower (only 250 workers). 400 additional workers from China did not arrive until November 2020. Project implementation delays also resulted from the Government of Cote d'Ivoire not paying CNBM in a timely manner (upon receipt of invoices). The project was originally scheduled to reach completion by May 13, 2021. However, as of April 2022, the project had only achieved a 70% completion rate. The project ultimately reached completion in September 2023 and the facility was named the 'Amadou Gon Coulibaly Stadium.'