Active Mixed AidData Chinese Aid

China Eximbank agrees in principle to provide $488.7 million buyer’s credit loan for Glo Djigbé International Airport Construction Project

$488.7M USD

Funder	Export-Import Bank of China (China Eximbank)
Recipient Organization	Government of Benin
Country	Benin
Start Date	Jan 01, 2021
End Date	Jan 09, 2029
Duration	2,930 days
Number of Grantees	1
Roles	Recipient
Data Source	AidData Chinese Aid
Grant ID	`58547`

Grant Description

China Eximbank agrees in principle to provide $488.7 million buyer’s credit loan for Glo Djigbé International Airport Construction Project Between March 22 and 24, 2019, China Eximbank sent a pre-loan investigation group to Benin.

The group's main objective was to continue financial negotiations with the Government of Benin regarding the Glo Djigbé International Airport Construction Project.

According to the Government of Benin's 2019 Bond Prospectus, China Eximbank was expected to provide a loan to the Government of Benin for the airport project (p. 69).

The borrower was expected to use the proceeds of the China Eximbank loan was to partially finance a $796 million commercial contract with CACC International Engineering Co., Ltd., which was signed on October 14, 2016.

Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding (YCIH), a private company, was expected to create a joint venture (special purpose vehicle) to operate this airport and sign a design-build-finance-operate-maintain (DBFOM) concession agreement with the Ministry of Finance of Benin.

The purpose of this project is to construct a new international airport in Glo Djigbé and replace the Cardinal-Bernardin-Gantin Airport. A 40 km expressway will also be built as part of the project.

The expressway will connect the airport to the fishing road with, at Cocotomey, a crossing of the national interstate road 1 going from the Togolese border to the Nigerian border via Cotonou, Porto-Novo and Ouidah.

China Airport Construction Group Corporation (CACC) (state-owned enterprise), Aviation Industry Corporation of China (AVIC), and Yunnan Construction and Investment Holding (YCIH) (private) are expected to complete the EPC works. ADP Group (Aéroport de Paris Ingénierie) is expected supervise the EPC work.

Preliminary (pre-construction) works commenced on March 10, 2017. Construction was originally expected to begin in 2019 and end in 2022. China Eximbank reportedly authorized the loan for the project on May 18, 2021. However, there is no clear evidence of a loan agreement being signed. China Eximbank officials conducted an on-site inspection in March 2022.

However, later in 2022, the Government of Benin decided to postpone works on Glo Djigbé to prioritize Cotonou Airport.

Then, in May 2023, a delegation from the China-Africa Development Fund (CADF) visited Benin to discuss potential financing for the Glo Djigbé International Airport Construction Project.

📋 Staff Comments

The Chinese project title is 贝宁格鲁-吉贝新国际机场项目 or 贝宁新国际机场项目 or 宁格鲁·吉贝新国际机场项目. The French project title is CONSTRUCTION DE L’AÉROPORT INTERNATIONAL DE GLO-DJIGBÉ or Aéroport International de Glo-Djigbé.
According to a 2022 IMF report, 'a first contract, concerning the international airport of Glo-Djigbé, is about to be concluded. This contract, initially identified as a PPP mobilizes both public capital and Chinese private capital. However, the [IMF] mission does not have detailed information on this project.'3. The Government of Benin’s 2019 Bond Prospectus puts the total cost of the project at $964 million, but its 2021 Bond Prospectus puts it at $600 million. Another Government of Benin source claims that the total cost of the project is $705.7 million, with the Government of Benin contributing $217 million and China Eximbank financing the remainder ($488.7 million).
The Chinese Loans to Africa (CLA) Database, managed by the Boston University Global Development Policy (GDP) Center, claims that China Eximbank issued a $670.74 million loan commitment for this project in 2021 (see https://www.bu.edu/gdp/files/2023/08/GCI_PB_019_CLA-2023-FIN.pdf). AidData has not independently corroborated this claim.

📚 Sources & References

Avid D'appel public a manifestation d'interet pour l'assistance
Benin IMF staff report 2018
COOPERATION SINO-BENINOISE : L’AMBASSADEUR PENG JINGTAO DRESSE UN BILAN SATISFAISANT
La Chine et le Bénin ont une coopération fructueuse
Benin 2019 Bond Prospectus
Bénin: La société chinoise AVIC préssentie pour construire l’aéroport international de Glo-djigbé
Aéroport de Glo Djigbé : Wadagni détaille les caractéristiques techniques du projet
CONSTRUCTION DE L’AÉROPORT INTERNATIONAL DE GLO-DJIGBÉ
Bénin : la construction du nouvel aéroport de Glo-Djigbé démarrera en décembre et se terminera en 2020
Le Bénin peaufine le projet de construction de l’aéroport de Glo-Djigbé, 《西非华声》 I 贝宁：政府决定延期建设Glo-Djigbé国际机场, 【动态】口行代表团调研贝宁新机场项目, 2019 Project Management and Planning Report for the Benin Glo Djigbé International Airport Construction Project
贝宁格鲁-吉贝新国际机场项目
后永宁李志琤赴贝宁考察
Benin 2021 Bond Prospectus, 《西非华声》 I 贝宁：Glo-Djigbé机场已完成建设
Green light for new Benin airport
Scoping Report Textile Unit Park - Glo-Djibé Industrial Zone
Benin
Aéroport de Glo-Djigbé : Ayadji apporte des clarifications sur la suspension du Projet. L'Evénement Précis
Stéphane Gasne Resume
IMPLEMENTATION COMPLETION AND RESULTS REPORT IDA‐44240 ON A CREDIT IN THE AMOUNT OF SDR 15.7 MILLION (US$25 MILLION EQUIVALENT) TO THE REPUBLIC OF BENIN FOR THE COMPETITIVENESS AND INTEGRATED GROWTH OPPORTUNITY PROJECT (CIGOP)
中国进出口银行贝宁新国际机场项目选聘律所项目成交结果公告
Boya Shen
PROGRAMME D’ACTIONS DU GOUVERNEMENT 2021-2026
BENIN RAPPORT D’ASSISTANCE TECHNIQUE—EVALUATION DE LA TRANSPARENCE DES FINANCES PUBLIQUES
INVESTIR AU BÉNIN
LA PORTE D’ENTRÉE DE L’AFRIQUE DE L’OUEST
L’Ambassadeur de la Chine
Jingtao Peng invité de « Sous l’arbre à palabre »: « Les réformes ont changé l’image du Bénin à l’extérieur »
Coopération sino-béninoise: L’ambassadeur Peng Jingtao dresse un bilan satisfaisant
Green light for new Benin airport
Inconstitutionnalité de la loi sur le PPP : Les conséquences sur le Pvi et l’aéroport de Glo Djigbé
La Tribune LE MAGAZINE DU N°05 JANVIER 2018
Grand Format Bénin : l’aéroport Glo-Djigbé attendu pour la fin 2020
Bénin : le gouvernement justifie le retard à la construction de l’aéroport international de Glo-Djigbé
中非基金考察团组到集团在贝项目调研
A New State of Lending: CHINESE LOANS TO 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.