Chinese Government provides CFA 11.9 billion grant for Ebimpé Olympic Stadium Construction Project (Linked to Record ID#53269, #73441)

On November 4, 2014, China’s Ministry of Commerce and the Government of Cote d'Ivoire signed an RMB 300 million (CFA 25,710,000,000) interest-free loan agreement for the Ebimpé Olympic Stadium Construction Project.

It is scheduled for repayment between December 1, 2029 and November 30, 2039.

In addition to this loan, this stadium project was financed by an additional grant and interest-free loan from the Chinese Government: (1) a CFA 11.9 billion grant provided in March 2017 (captured via Record ID#85370), and (2) a CFA 20.69 million interest-free loan issued on February 22, 2016 (captured via Record ID#73441).

The loan and grant proceeds were to be used to finance an RMB 750,000,000 (CFA 63,990,243,240) commercial contract [ID#2016-0-2-1417/02-29 between Ivorian Government and Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG), which was signed on July 22, 2016.

The Ivorian Government was responsible for providing CFA 4 billion of counterpart financing for earthworks and the installation of water, electrical and telecommunications infrastructure at the project site. This project involved the construction of a 60,012 seat stadium in Ebimpé within the Anyama sub-prefecture.

It also involved the construction of an Olympic village surrounding the stadium, which has 4 housing estates, a training complex, administrative buildings, a commercial area, a clinic, a 4-star hotel, a 9-hole golf course, and of a medium voltage power line (15 kV) dedicated to the stadium (from the Yopougon 2 HV/MV transformer station to the industrial zone).

Additionally, it involved the construction of a 10,000 seat multi-purpose arena. Beijing Construction Engineering Group (BCEG) was the contractor responsible for implementation. It hired approximately 1000 workers, of which 350 were Chinese and 650 were Ivorian. Project implementation commenced on December 10, 2016.

Then, a groundbreaking ceremony was held on December 22, 2016 (originally planned for January 2016). Shortly thereafter, on December 31, 2016, the Chinese Government made a loan disbursement worth CFA 14 billion. An electrical connection for the project site was established on August 18, 2017. Foundation pile construction was completed on September 26, 2017.

Construction was expected to last 24 months and project was originally expected to reach completion on October 21, 2019.

When the Ivorian Minister of Sports inspected the construction site in August 2018, the project had achieved a 50% completion rate and its expected completion (delivery) date had been pushed back to November 21, 2019. An opening ceremony for the stadium took place on October 3, 2020. It was completed in advance of the the 2021 Africa Cup of Nations football (soccer) tournament.

According to the Government of Côte d'Ivoire’s Aid Management Platform (AMP), the project encountered several problems during implementation, including ‘bad behavior’ among Chinese team leaders towards the workers on the project site, a lack of protective equipment for workers, a worker strike on October 23, 2017 for better wages and improved working conditions, and non-compliance with the contractual deadlines for the execution of the project.

According to a February 2024 report by the New York Times, 'three years after the stadium hosted its first game, the new road leading to it still hasn’t opened, forcing fans to walk for up to an hour to reach or leave the arena, and the sports city around it has yet to materialize.' The same report notes that the stadium's 'grass field doesn’t extend far enough beyond the playing surface, so organizers have had to patch its perimeter with artificial turf to keep players in cleats from slipping on the adjacent running track.'