China Eximbank provides RMB 337 million government concessional loan for Mekin Hydropower Project

On January 7, 2010, China Eximbank and the Ministry of Economy, Planning and Regional Development of the Republic of Cameroon signed a government concessional loan (GCL) loan agreement [CHINA EXIMBANK GCL NO. (2009) 45 TOTAL NO. (295) LOAN SERIAL NO. 1290003052009110688] worth RMB 337 million for the Mekin Hydropower Project. The loan has a 20-year maturity, 4 year grace period, 2% interest rate, 0.30% management fee, and a 0.30% commitment fee. A framework agreement for this project was signed by the Government of Cameroon and the Chinese Government on November 5, 2009.The project includes a dam, a 105-million cubic meters reservoir, a 15 MW power plant and a 63kV high-voltage line connected to the southern power grid. The dam and power plant are located in arrondissement of Meyomessala and electricity will be evacuated to the eight districts of the Dja and Lobo Division, South region. China Eximbank is financing 85% of the cost of this project, and the Government of the Republic of Cameroon is financing the remaining 15%.Cameroon's Ministry of Energy and Water Resources of the Republic of Cameroon and China National Electric Equipment Corporation (CNEC) entered into a commercial contract for the implementation of this project on March 16, 2009. The Cameroonian Government also established a state-owned company -- called Hydro Mekin (or Hydromekin) -- to oversee implementation of the project. The project was initiated in November 2011, and it was completed on December 23, 2015.

Additional details

1. The Chinese project title is 默坎水电站项目现. The French project title is Projet de Construction de la centrale hydroéléctrique de Mekim sur le Dja.2. The loan agreement can be accessed in its entirety via SourceID#67429 or https://www.documentcloud.org/documents/20485533-cmr_2010_168.3. The project ID number for this transaction in Cameroon's Development Assistance Database (DAD) is CAM/000708

Number of official sources

23

Number of unofficial sources

10