Export Credit Line for Development Bank of Angola
Supporting Export of High-Quality Communications Infrastructure Equipment by Japanese Companies to Africa

• Region: Africa
• Infrastructures
• Export Loans

1. The Japan Bank for International Cooperation (JBIC; Governor, CEO: Hiroshi Watanabe) signed on March 30 a loan agreement in buyer's credit (export loan) totaling up to approximately USD65.8 million (JBIC portion) with Banco de Desenvolvimento de Angola (BDA), the state-owned development bank of Angola. The loan is cofinanced with Sumitomo Mitsui Banking Corporation (SMBC), bringing the total cofinancing amount to approximately USD109.7 million, with Nippon Export and Investment Insurance (NEXI) providing insurance for the portion financed by SMBC.
    
2. The loan is intended to provide part of the financing, through BDA, necessary for Angola Cables S.A.^*1, an Angolan telecom operator, to construct a complete optical submarine cable system, measuring a total length of approximately 6,200km, for a project directly connecting Angola and Brazil. The optical submarine cable system will be manufactured and laid by NEC Corporation (NEC) and its subcontractors, applying the latest technologies with the world's highest standards in data transmission capacity, connectivity, and amplification.
    
3. This project will lay the world's first optical submarine cable across the South Atlantic, directly linking the African continent to South America. The optical submarine cable is then planned to be linked to the U.S.-bound submarine cable under construction at the landing station in Brazil, building a vast communications network spanning from Angola to North America via South America. This project, through the export of NEC's optic submarine cable system, will not only develop a high-quality communications infrastructure network from various countries of Africa to those in South America, but also improve the accessibility of Angola and the peripheral areas and help revitalize the economy. At the same time, it will contribute to maintaining and strengthening the international competitiveness of Japanese industries.
    
4. This loan is provided as financial support under FAITH, the JBIC Facility for African Investment and Trade Enhancement. This has been launched by JBIC to support the promotion of private sector-led growth and the acceleration of infrastructure development in African countries, after the Government of Japan expressed at the 5^th Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD V) its intention to work toward expanding trade and investment in African countries in tandem with the private sector. JBIC's support for this project is also in line with the Japanese government's strategy, which aims at promoting Japanese involvement in projects including the design, construction, operation, and management of infrastructure, such as for the information and communications technology (ICT) sector.
    
5. As Japan's policy-based financial institution, JBIC will continue to support business expansion in Africa by Japanese companies, by drawing on its various financial facilities and schemes for structuring projects, and performing its risk-assuming function.

Note

1. *1 51% of the company's shares are held by state-owned Angola Telecom, and the rest by four private Angolan telecommunications companies.