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China Eximbank provides $62.3 million loan for Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#60219)
| Funder | Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank) |
|---|---|
| Recipient Organization | Government of Republic of Congo |
| Country | Congo |
| Start Date | Jan 01, 2014 |
| End Date | Oct 06, 2027 |
| Duration | 5,026 days |
| Number of Grantees | 1 |
| Roles | Recipient |
| Data Source | AidData Chinese Aid |
| Grant ID | 58408 |
Grant Description
China Eximbank provides $62.3 million loan for Mpila Shopping Center Construction 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 China Eximbank loans 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 in Record ID#60219) was ratified on October 26, 2006.
One of the subsidiary loans that was approved through the framework agreement was a $62,310,857.20 loan in 2014 for the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project.
Its estimated grace period was 4-years. The loan’s (principal) amount outstanding was $51,900,548 as of December 31, 2019.
The project involved the construction of a shopping center in the Mpila neighborhood within the capital city of Brazzaville.
It was part of a larger Chinese Government-funded effort to rebuild parts of Brazzaville that were destroyed by a deadly March 2012 blast at a munition’s depot in the Mpila neighborhood within the capital city of Brazzaville.
China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) and China Jiangsu International Economic Technical Cooperation Corporation were the contractors responsible for implementation. This project commenced on September 18, 2013. It had achieved a 60% execution rate as of March 31, 2019.
Staff Comments
- This project is also known as the Brazzaville Shopping Center Project. The French project title is Construction Zone Commerciale de MPILA or Projet de construction de la zone commerciale de Mpila or Chantier Brazzaville Mall or Centre commercial de Mpila. The Chinese project title is 姆皮拉商业中心 or 刚果（布）MPILA商业中心.
- In the database of Chinese loan commitments that SAIS-CARI released in July 2020, it identifies a $502 million China Eximbank loan for the ‘Brazzaville Mall’ Project and a $62 million loan for the ‘Mpila Business District’ Project. It does not record borrowing terms for either loan. AidData has not identified any official sources that confirm the existence of a $502 million China Eximbank loan. However, the Republic of Congo’s Public Debt Agency (Caisse Congolaise d’Amortissement or CCA) and Délégation Générale des Grands Travaux (DGGT) does identify an RMB 400,000,000 ($62,310,857,20) loan — with the maturity length of 14-years — for the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project. AidData records this loan.
- According to a 2019 report published by the Republic of Congo’s National Assembly, all loans approved under the June 19, 2006 framework agreement had an interest rate of 0.25% and grace periods between 3 and 5-years. Therefore, since the grace period of the China Eximbank loan for the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project is missing, AidData imputes a value (4-years) at the middle of the distribution of this range as an approximation.
- A China Eximbank source indicates that $410 million was provided for the construction of Mpila Memorial Construction Project, the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project, and the Brazzaville Commercial Center (Mpila Twin Towers) Construction Project. This monetary value is roughly equivalent to the combined value of the 3 Chinese Eximbank loans that were issued for these projects: a $19.19 million loan for the Mpila Memorial Construction Project (captured in Project#58721), a $62.3 million loan for the Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project (captured in this project, ID#58408), and a $328.1 million loan for the Mpila Twin Towers Construction Project (captured in Project ID#58720). Other Chinese sources refer to the Mpila Memorial Construction Project and Mpila Shopping Center Construction Project together (姆皮拉纪念馆及商业中心) and describe the total cost of these projects as $81.9 million.
Sources & References
- Résumé de l'Accord de restructuration de la dette du Congo envers la Chine
- Both Houses of the Parliament have ratified a Complementary Agreement on the Restructuring of Congo's debt to China by 1, 479.83 billion FCFA.
- 驻刚果（布）大使夏煌陪同刚政要考察中刚合作项目
- 刚大工部及计划部两位部长考察中企项目
- Congo : un accord de coopération de 200 millions de yuans signé avec la Chine
- 进出口银行贷款支持刚果（布）社会经济发展项目, ÉTAT DES LIEUX DE LA DETTE PUBLIQUE EN LA RÉPUBLIQUE DU CONGO
- ChinaLoansToAfrica©SAIS-CARI
- N°23 RAPPORT SUR L'ACCORD COMPLEMENTAIRE SUR LA RESTRUCTURATION DE LA DETTE ENVERS LA CHINE (1) N°23
- 刚果（布）MPILA商业中心
- Mpila
- Bargaining with Beijing: A Tale of Two Borrowers
- 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.
All Grantees
Government of Republic of Congo
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