China Eximbank provides RMB 1.05 billion government concessional loan for Ministry of Finance Information and Communications Technology Modernization Project

Project narrative

In the first quarter of 2020, China Eximbank and the Government of the Democratic Republic of Congo signed an RMB 1,050,000,000 government concessional loan (GCL) agreement for the Ministry of Finance ICT Modernization Project. The borrowing terms of the GCL are as follows: a 20-year maturity, a 5-year grace period, a 2% interest rate, and a 0.25% commitment fee. However, it is known that the borrower was expected to use the GCL proceeds to finance a commercial contract with Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. worth approximately $150 million that was signed in 2014. The purpose of the project is to modernize the computer systems of three state financial authorities: the General Directorate of Taxes (DGI), the General Directorate of Customs and Excise (DGDA) and the General Directorate of Administrative, Judicial, State and Shareholding Revenue (DGRAD). Huawei Technologies Co., Ltd. is the contractor responsible for implementation. On November 2, 2023, Congolese Prime Minister Sama Lukonde Kyenge attended a ribbon-cutting ceremony to inaugurate a data center at the Ministry of Finance in Kinshasa. At the ceremony, Congolese Minister of Finance Nicolas Kazadi said that the data center would promote modernization, good governance, and the anti-corruption campaign in the country. Zhao Bin, Chinese Ambassador to the DRC, described the center as 'a major achievement of Sino-Congolese cooperation' in the field of digital information. The data center is expected to help the Congolese authorities centralize, merge, secure, and store information on financial management activities.