Chinese Government provides CFA 4.89 billion grant — via ETCA — for Ministerial Block Restoration Project (Linked to Record ID#92338)

On September 1, 2008, the Chinese Government and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire signed an exchange of letters for the Ministerial Block Restoration Project.

Then, on August 27, 2012 and September 3, 2012, the Chinese Government and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire signed another exchange of letters for additional rehabilitation works related to the Ministerial Block Restoration Project.

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 CFA 4,896,000,000 grant agreement (captured via Record ID#30583) and a CFA 544,000,000 interest-free loan agreement (captured via Record ID#92338) for the Ministerial Block Restoration Project on September 18, 2012.

The funding for this project was drawn (at least in part) from an Economic and Technical Cooperation Agreement (ECTA) that was signed by the parties on January 3, 2012.The grant was disbursed in two tranches: a CFA 2.72 billion tranche on December 31, 2012 and a CFA 2.176 billion tranche on March 31, 2014.

The loan was fully disbursed in a single tranche on December 31, 2015.

The purpose of the project was to renovate and restore a government building in Abidjan (known as as the Ministerial Block), which was first constructed in the 1960s, that houses the Ministries of Foreign Affairs and Justice (exact locational coordinates: 5.322136727779431, -4.022283554077148).

The rectangular architectural complex has four wings and sits on a plot of 15600 m² with an area of ​​12480 m² plus a basement of 3120 m². It has three levels: the basement, the ground floor, and the 1st floor.

The restoration project took place in 7,300 square meters of office space and involved technology and infrastructural upgrades.

More specifically, it involved exterior and interior maintenance; rehabilitation of the air conditioning system; rehabilitation of the power supply system; rehabilitation of the computer and telephone network; installation of a ventilation system; replacement of sanitary appliances; repair of stairs, doors and windows; repair of ceilings, cupboards, woodwork and aluminum joinery; installation of flooring; replacement of windows; and rehabilitation of the water supply and distribution systems.

The total cost of the project’s first and second phase was CFA 7,383,600,000. The total cost of Phase 1 was 1,943,600,000. The total cost of Phase 2 was CFA 5,440,000,000. Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group (JPCEC) was the general contractor responsible for implementation. On December 1, 2011, the project’s first phase of implementation officially commenced.

However, a work stoppage took place on May 15, 2012. Then, a Phase 2 project design contract was signed on September 18, 2012.

On July 17, 2013, the Government of Côte d'Ivoire and Jiangsu Provincial Construction Group (JPCEC) signed a Phase 2 implementation agreement. Phase 2 commenced on February 6, 2014 and ended on August 5, 2015. The project passed a final MOFCOM inspection on July 8, 2015. It then achieved technical acceptance on December 17, 2015 and provisional acceptance on December 22, 2015.

The project was officially completed and handed over to the Ivorian authorities on November 8, 2016. Staff moved in and began using the ministerial block in June 2017. The project’s one-year warranty period ended on December 21, 2016. The project was originally scheduled to reach completion on August 5, 2016.

It was was finished ahead of schedule because JPCEC increased the number of employees assigned to the project from 50 to 150.

Then, on October 3, 2017, an agreement was signed by the Chinese Government and the Government of Côte d'Ivoire for the first phase of a 3-year technical assistance project to maintain the Ministerial Block and a conference center.