Completed Mixed AidData Chinese Aid

China Eximbank provides $72 million loan for Phase 2 of the Maya-Maya International Airport Project (Linked to Record ID#60219 and #161)

$72M USD

Funder	Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)
Recipient Organization	Government of Republic of Congo
Country	Congo
Start Date	Jan 01, 2011
End Date	Feb 03, 2030
Duration	6,973 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`141`

Grant Description

China Eximbank provides $72 million loan for Phase 2 of the Maya-Maya International Airport Project On June 19, 2006, China Eximbank and the Republic of Congo signed a $1.6 billion loan framework agreement — also known in the Republic of Congo as the “strategic partnership” (“partenariat stratégique”) — that allowed the Republic of Congo to obtain loans to fund export buyer's credits from China Eximbank for infrastructure projects through a securitization mechanism: Société Nationales des Pétroles Congolais (SNPC)—the country’s state-owned oil company — agreed to deposit a portion of the cash proceeds from its oil exports into an escrow account that is controlled by China Eximbank.

This framework agreement (captured via Record ID#60219) was ratified on October 26, 2006.

Two of the subsidiary loans that were approved through the framework agreement included a $81 million loan in 2007 for Phase 1 of the Maya-Maya International Airport Project (captured via Record ID#161) and a loan for Phase 2 of the Maya-Maya International Airport Project in 2011 (captured via Record ID#141).

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

📅 Maturity20 years

⏳ Grace Period5 years

💹 Interest Rate0.25%

As of 2014, USD 72 million had been disbursed. The (principal) amount outstanding under these two loans was $10,880,885 as of December 31, 2019.

This project involved the construction and equipping of Maya-Maya International Airport Project in the capital city of Brazzaville. Phase 1 involved the construction of a terminal building (including viaducts and a parking lot with 800 spaces). Phase 2 involved the installation of runway equipment and the construction of an airport hotel and an aviation club.

Weihai International Economic & Technical Cooperative Co., Ltd (WIETC) was the contractor responsible for implementation of both phases. Phase 1 was launched on August 7, 2007 and completed on June 1, 2011. Phase 2 was completed on August 15, 2014.

📋 Staff Comments

The Chinese project title is 布拉柴维尔机场项目 or 玛雅－玛雅机场为刚果 or 马亚-马亚国际机场 or MayaMaya国际机场. Phase 2 is sometimes also referred to as the Maya-Maya International Airport Equipment Project.
According to China Eximbank, it issued a buyer’s credit loan in support of Phase 1 of the Maya-Maya International Airport Project. The loan that supported this project was also approved as a subsidiary loan under the $1.6 billion, oil-backed loan framework agreement that China Eximbank and the Republic of Congo signed in 2006 (see Project ID#60219). However, it is unclear if this means that all of the subsidiary loans approved under that framework agreement were buyer’s credit loans. This issue merits further investigation.
Several sources refer to a “$160 million loan” from China Eximbank for the project, which likely reflects the sum total of China Eximbank’s lending for Project ID#161 and Project ID#141. In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it identifies a single $136 million China Eximbank loan for Maya-Maya International Airport Project. AidData records two separate China Eximbank loans — for Phase 1 and Phase 2 of the Maya-Maya International Airport Project, respectively — that the Congolese authorities disclosed to the World Bank and the World Bank reported in its September 2014 Republic of Congo Economic Update publication.
Project ID#141 and Project ID#161 were funded through export buyer's credits, however, it is unclear if all the subsidiary loans approved under the 2006 framework agreement (Project ID#60219) were buyer’s credits.
The precise commitment date for the Phase 2 loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that the loan was contracted in 2011 (the year in which the project's first phase was completion). This issue warrants further investigation.

📚 Sources & References

http://www.zjgj.com/en/viewprojectcontent.asp?id=41&class=52, http://allafrica.com/stories/201206110020.html
OLLOMBO International Airport of Republic of Congo
REPUBLIC OF CONGO ECONOMIC UPDATE
PB+50+Pairault+French+Chinese+Business+Cooperation+Africa
威海国际刚果（布）正威技术有限公司总经理王力钧、副总经理郭永新：一家民营企业在刚果（布）有巨大影响力的背后
出口买方信贷刚果（布）布拉柴维尔机场项目
Initiative pour la Transparence dans les Industries Extractives Loan applications and disbursements are still being received and processed as the projects continue to evolve. Ongoing monitoring and evaluation are in place to ensure project continuity.