Completed Mixed AidData Chinese Aid

China Eximbank provides loan for Alima Palace Hotel Construction Project

$14.7M USD

Funder	Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)
Recipient Organization	Unspecified Special Purpose Vehicle of Société d'Exploitation Hôtelière au Congo (Sodexh-Congo SA)
Country	Congo
Start Date	Jan 01, 2008
End Date	Apr 18, 2028
Duration	7,413 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`57887`

Grant Description

China Eximbank provides loan for Alima Palace Hotel Construction Project In 2008, China Eximbank issued a loan to a special purpose vehicle (SPV), which was created by Société d'Exploitation Hôtelière au Congo (Sodexh-Congo SA), for the Alima Palace Hotel Construction Project. Sodexh-Congo SA is a subsidiary of Pefaco Hotels, the hotel division of a Spanish holding company called Grupo Pefaco.

The total cost of the project was CFA 21 billion and it was implemented on a public-private partnership (PPP) basis. The face value of the China Eximbank loan that supported this project is unknown.

📋 Loan / Grant Terms

💰 Loan Amountare also unknown

The project involved the construction of a five-star hotel called Alima Palace (also known as the Alima Palace Hotel) — with 116 luxury rooms and 6 upscale suites — on the outskirts of the city of Oyo. The hotel is within walking distance of the Komo River and it borders the Oyo-Ollombo special economic zone (SEZ).

The hotel features a 160-seat banquet hall, conference rooms, restaurants, boutiques, spas, games rooms, and public restrooms. It generates its own electricity. Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) was the contractor responsible for implementation.

Construction, which involved 100 Chinese workers and 300 Congolese workers, began on May 5, 2008 and ended on January 1, 2012.

On March 12, 2013, the hotel was officially inaugurated by the Congolese Minister of the DGGT, Jean-Jacques Bouya, and Congolese Tourism and Environment Minister, Josué Rodrigue Ngouonimba, and other local dignitaries.

📋 Staff Comments

This hotel is also known as the Pefaco Hotel Alima Palace. The Chinese project title is OYO酒店 or 阿丽玛宾馆 or 如ALIMA宾馆. The French project title is Le grand Hôtel Alima-Palace or La construction de l’hôtel Alima à Oyo.
The China Eximbank loan that supported this project is not included in the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020. Nor is it included in the Chinese Overseas Development Finance Dataset published by Boston University’s Global Development Policy Center in December 2020.
AidData set flow class as OOF-Like since this project involves a PPP with debt and equity contributions, which implies at least some level of commercial intent.
The face value of the loan is unknown. For the time being, AidData assumes that the CFA 21 billion was financed according to a debt-to-equity ratio of 70:30. This issue warrants further investigation.

📚 Sources & References

驻刚果（布）大使李树立赴刚北方考察
APPROCHES COMPARATIVES DE LA DEPENDANCE DU CONGO A L’EGARD DE LA FRANCE ET DE LA CHINE
Copasol, fruit de la coopération sino-congolaise
L’hôtel Alima Palace ouvert au public
EXIMBANK-CHINA
中国建筑工程的刚果梦
天津市建筑科学研究院有限公司
北京建工集团刚果分公司
刚果（布）OYO酒店项目实现降成本增效益
Lancement des travaux de construction d'un complexe hospitalier et d'un hôtel à Oyo
REFLET N°19 du 08-2014-red
Copasol, fruit de la coopération sino-congolaise
Pefaco Hotel Alima Palace
Pefaco Hotel Alima Palace 5* · Oyo · République du Congo
Pefaco Hotel Alima Palace
L'AXE BRAZZAVILLE-PÉKIN SE CONSOLIDE
China's Overseas Development Finance 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.