Chinese Government provides RMB 64.16 million interest-free for Abidjan Palace of Culture Rehabilitation Project (Linked to Project ID#61030 and ID#60791)

On June 9, 2011, a Chinese Embassy official visited the then-dilapidated Abidjan Palace of Culture (Palais de la culture d’Abidjan) and the Ivorian Minister of Culture requested that the Chinese Government repair the building. On March 14, 2012, the Chinese Government and Government of Cote d'Ivoire signed letters of exchange formally agreeing to carry out the Abidjan Palace of Culture Rehabilitation Project. Then, according to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), China’s Ministry of Commerce (MOFCOM) and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire signed a grant agreement worth approximately RMB 135,484,375 (CFA 10,421,875,000) and an interest-free loan agreement worth RMB 64,168,000 (CFA 4,936,000,000) for the Abidjan Palace of Culture Rehabilitation Project on December 13, 2012. The grant is captured via Project ID#60791 and the interest-free loan is captured via Project ID#92342. The grant was disbursed in five tranches (worth CFA 10,421,875,000): a CFA 5,000,000,000 tranche on December 31, 2013, a CFA 4,467,000,000 tranche on October 15, 2014, a CFA 954,875,000 tranche on May 31, 2015, a CFA 333,333,333 tranche on December 31, 2018, and a CFA 333,333,333 tranche on December 31, 2019. The loan was disbursed in two tranches (worth CFA 4,936,000,000): a CFA 936,000,000 tranche on December 31, 2013 and a CFA 4,000,000,000 tranche on May 31, 2015. The purpose of the project was to rehabilitate the Abidjan Palace of Culture — a venue used for large-scale performances such as plays, concerts, exhibitions, and conferences — in the capital city of Abidjan. The building is situated between the Houphouët-Boigny Bridge and the General de Gaulle Bridge. It occupies a 17,000 square meter space and includes a 1,500-seat indoor theater and a 2,800-seat outdoor theater. The Abidjan Palace of Culture was originally built with financial support from the Chinese government during the 1990s but was severely damaged during the 2010-2011 post-election crisis. Qingjian Group was the contractor responsible for implementation of the rehabilitation project. Beijing Architectural Design and Research Institute was responsible for the design of the project. Works were scheduled to last 24 months and end in June 2015. Qingjian Group was awarded a MOFCOM contract in 2012. Project implementation officially commenced on May 9, 2013. However, construction did not begin until June 18, 2013. The project was completed twenty days ahead of schedule on May 28, 2015. It was then handed over to the Ivorian authorities on June 20, 2015. An Abidjan Palace of Culture reopening ceremony took place on July 31, 2015. Then, in 2017, the Chinese Government provided a CFA 50 million grant to the Government of Cote d'Ivoire’s Ministry of Culture and Francophone to help manage and furnish the Palace (as captured via Project ID#61030).

Additional details

1. This project is also known as the Culture Palace Rehabilitation Project. The Chinese project title is 在特雷什维尔文化宫 or 阿比让文化宫维修改造项目 or 援科特迪瓦文化宫升级改造工程 or 中国援科特迪瓦文化宫升级改造项目. The French project title is Réhabilitation et de rénovation du Palais de la culture d'Abidjan. 2. The Project Coordinator is Diakité Mamidou Coulibaly (c.diakite@culture.gouv.ci). 3. The system identification number for this project in the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP) is 11200713704. 4. 1 West African Franc (CFA) was equal to 0.013 Chinese yuan (RMB) in December 2012, which implies that the CFA 4,936,000,000 interest-free loan commitment recorded in the AMP was worth approximately RMB 64,168,000 at the time that it was contracted and the CFA 10,421,875,000 grant commitment recorded in the AMP was worth approximately RMB 135,484,375 at the time that it was contracted. 5. One source suggests that the total financial commitment from the Chinese Government for this project was RMB 174.8 million (or approximately CFA 14.33 billion). This issue warrants further investigation. 6. The precise borrowing terms of the interest-free loan are unknown. Therefore, standard MOFCOM interest-free loan borrowing terms (0% interest rate, 10 year grace period, 20-year maturity) are assumed. 7. This MOFCOM loan is not included in the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in 2020 and re-released in 2021.

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