Completed Mixed AidData Chinese Aid

ICBC provides $102 million buyer's credit loan for Rural Electrification Northern Region Project

$102M USD

Funder	Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC)
Recipient Organization	Government of Ghana
Country	Ghana
Start Date	Jan 11, 2012
End Date	Dec 05, 2031
Duration	7,268 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`30084`

Grant Description

ICBC provides $102 million buyer's credit loan for Rural Electrification Northern Region Project On January 11, 2012, the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) and the Government of Ghana signed a $102 million buyer's credit loan agreement for the Rural Electrification Northern Region Project.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

💰 Loan Amountcarries the following borrowing terms: a maturity of 15 years

The loan’s (principal) amount outstanding was GHS 409,620,000 ($73,146,428) as of December 31, 2020 and GHS 336,500,000 ($64,711,538) as of December 31, 2021. Hunan Construction Engineering Group Corporation was the contractor responsible for implementation. The total contract cost of the project was reported to be $120 million.

HNCEG began project scoping in 2009 while working with the Ministry of Finance and Ministry of Energy. The project was completed in November 2016.

There are some indications that the ICBC loan for the Rural Electrification Northern Region Project may have financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender.

According to the World Bank’s International Development Statistics, the Government of Ghana had accumulated principal and interest arrears to one or more official sector Chinese creditors worth $908,337,346.70) in 2020 ($763,228,526.60 in principal arrears and $145,108,820.10 in interest arrears).

There are some indications that the China Eximbank loan for Phase 1 of the Kpong Water Expansion Supply Project may have financially underperformed vis-a-vis the original expectations of the lender.

According to the World Bank’s International Development Statistics, the Government of Ghana had accumulated principal and interest arrears to one or more official sector Chinese creditors worth $908,337,346.70) in 2020 ($763,228,526.60 in principal arrears and $145,108,820.10 in interest arrears).

Then, on December 19, 2022, the Government of Ghana announced a sovereign default, suspending debt service on its Eurobonds, its commercial loans, and most of its bilateral loans.

📋 Staff Comments

The Chinese project title is 加纳北部省电网项目.
For loan and debt rescheduling records with variable interest rates, AidData calculates the all-in interest rate at T0 based on the reference rate (such as LIBOR or EURIBOR) on the loan start date, plus any known margin. Please see the methodology for additional details.
The (principal) amounts outstanding are drawn from the Ghanaian Ministry of Finance’s Annual Public Debt Reports. These amounts are reported in GHS by the Ministry of Finance. AidData has estimated the USD amounts by applying the average GHS-to-USD exchange rate in 2020 (5.6-to-1) and the average GHS-to-USD exchange rate in 2021 (5.2-to-1).
2012003 is the ID assigned to the loan in the Ghanaian Auditor General Reports

📚 Sources & References

Appendix 8: Project Loans Signed in 2012, 500 COMMUNITIES TO GET POWER IN UER
The Annual Public Debt Report for the 2018 Financial Year, 2013_Budget_Appendix_Tables
湖南建工成功签约加纳8800万美元电网项目
Rural electrification project in Ghana gets impetus
The Annual Debt Report for the 2021 Financial Year
The Annual Public Debt Report for the 2020 Financial Year
The Annual Public Debt Report for the 2022 Financial Year
China’s creditor diversification in Africa 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.