In 2015, Egyptian President Abdel Fattah AlSisi launched the con⁃ struction of the New Administrative Capital ( NAC) , which is touted as the president's flagship project, marking the "birth of a new state" of Egypt. The Industrial and Commercial Bank of China ( ICBC) , as the leading bank, has raised an international syndicate loan of nearly 3 billion USD to support the construction of the Central Business District ( CBD) of the NAC. The project is underwritten by China Export & Credit Insurance Corporation ( SINOSURE) .
Ⅰ． Ｂａｃｋｇｒｏｕｎｄ
The NAC, the future political and economic center of Egypt, is located 45 km east of Cairo, covering a planned area of 714 km 2 . It is expected to become home to 5- 7 million people. The CBD is located at the core area of NAC and will be made into its urban center. ICBC and SINOSURE have been jointly rendering great support to the smooth progress of the project.
ICBC is a major Chinese commercial bank cooperating with Africa.In 2008, ICBC bought up 20 percent of Standard Bank, realizing a strategic co⁃ operation between the largest commercial bank in China and the largest in Africa. The cooperation gives ICBC market access to more than 20 countries and regions in Africa. In recent years, ICBC has cooperative business in nearly 30 African countries, supporting more than 130 projects of various types, fueling Africa s modernization drive and sustained economic development.
SINOSURE, as the only state - funded and policy - oriented insurance company in China, promotes China's foreign economic and trade development by providing insurance and other services. As of June 2021, SINO⁃SURE has accumulatively supported more than 5.7 trillion USD of domestic and foreign trade and investment and paid a total of 16.6 billion USD in claims. It has underwritten a large number of key projects of China- Africa cooperation such as Maputo Bridge in Mozambique and Mombasa- Nairobi Standard Gauge Railway ( SGR) .
Ⅱ． Ｏｖｅｒｖｉｅｗ
The CBD project includes 18 buildings to be constructed by China State Construction Engineering Corporation ( CSCEC) in three phases. ICBC, as the leading bank, initiated an international syndicate loan to provide 2.76 bil⁃ion USD for the project, of which 610 million USD was undertaken by ICBC. SINOSURE underwrites the CBD project in three phases under medium- and long- term ( M/LT) export credit insurance. The total amount is 3. 88 billion USD. In addition to the M/LT export credit insurance, SINOSURE also issued supporting special business insurance for three phases of the CBD project ( with a total amount of 2.89 billion USD) . In addition, ICBC and SINOSURE provided Advance Payment Guarantee and Repayment Guarantee for the project. At present, all three batches of the CBD project have reached financing close. The 385.8- meter- high Iconic Tower has recently topped out and will be the tallest building in Africa upon completion.
Ⅲ． Ｍｅｔｈｏｄｏｌｏｇｙ
1.Bank- led risk coverage.
As the leading bank, ICBC established a co⁃ ordination and communication mechanism with the project borrower at the beginning of the NAC project planning. With in- depth understanding of the business structure, it designed a three- phase reasonable financing scheme in accordance with the project progress, ensured the feasibility of financing and led to the final disbursement of the loans. As an export credit insurance agency, SINOSURE provided both political and commercial risk coverage for the CBD project with Export Credit Insurance ( ECI) and Short⁃term ( ST) Project Insurance. During the underwriting period, SINOSURE organized lo⁃ cal staff in Egypt to conduct field study and made sure that project risks were minimized.
2.Creating a city landmark and driving regional development.
As a new city landmark, the NAC will become Egypt's new political and economic center, which will further drive Egypt s economic growth, the regional eco⁃ nomic and social development, and the development of the Suez Canal Eco⁃ nomic Belt and the Red Sea Economic Belt.
3. Stimulating infrastructure development and promoting technology ex⁃ change.
According to the Egyptian government's vision, the NAC will be a livable modern city. Based on strong technical support, Chinese enterprises have brought to Egypt complete sets of concrete technology for desert areas, ultra high - rise lifting platform technology and steel structure technology, which have solved a series of problems in the construction of an ultra highrise building in desert areas. At the same time, the project helps to train a large number of technical and management professionals for the construction industry in Egypt.
4. Promoting industrial upgrading for better well⁃being.
The construction of the NAC will greatly enhance Egypt s industrial level, promote industrial upgrading, attract foreign investment, balance the trade deficit, and stabilize the domestic economic environment; at the same time, it will greatly increase employment opportunities for Egyptians, solve social and livelihood issues such as living, healthcare, education, etc., and achieve social stability and development.
Ⅳ． Ｐｒｏｓｐｅｃｔｓ
The CBD project brings new opportunities for the development of Egypt and its neighboring countries; it will certainly boost Egypt's revitalization plan.This is a third- party market cooperation project, a flagship project of ICBC, which led the cooperation between Chinese and foreign banks and SINOSURE, providing a new idea for China- Africa cooperation to drive regional development.
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