SYLLA & PARTNERS assisted Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) in negotiating with the Government of the Republic of Guinea for the financing of infrastructure development projects. ICBC acts as Lead Lender in this operation. The amount of the Framework Agreement between Guinea and China is 20 billion US dollars.
This Framework Agreement signed between the Republic of Guinea and the People’s Republic of China aims to establish a credit facility to finance certain priority infrastructure in Guinea. For this first phase of the program, two major road infrastructure projects were identified: the renovation and rehabilitation project for National Road N°1 for an amount of 328,927,468 euros, and the Conakry road networks project for an amount of 186,118,173.31 euros.
National Road N°1 constitutes one of Guinea’s most important road arteries, connecting the capital Conakry to the country’s interior regions. Its renovation and rehabilitation represent a strategic challenge for regional connectivity, trade development and improved population mobility.
The Conakry road networks project aims to modernize the road infrastructure of the Guinean capital, contributing to improved urban circulation, economic development of the capital and improved quality of life for Conakry residents.
ICBC, as one of the world’s largest commercial banks, was designated as Lead Lender for this infrastructure financing operation, coordinating the financial and legal aspects of the transaction between Chinese lenders and the Government of Guinea.
Our firm provided comprehensive legal assistance to ICBC as local counsel, mobilizing our expertise in project finance, infrastructure and public procurement.
The services performed by SYLLA & PARTNERS as local counsel to ICBC included preparation of a thorough due diligence report on the Republic of Guinea’s capacity to contract these loans, including analysis of the budgetary situation, public debt and the State’s legal capacity, detailed review of all financing and project documents, including loan agreements, EPC (Engineering, Procurement and Construction) contracts and necessary administrative authorizations, issuance of legal opinions on the validity and enforceability of documents under Guinean law, monitoring of the effectiveness of loan disbursement conditions, review of draft amendments to loan agreements, as well as responding to all questions relating to Guinean law raised by ICBC and other lenders.
This type of assignment illustrates our ability to support major international financial institutions in financing large infrastructure projects in Guinea, providing the essential local expertise for legal security of these financing operations.
The SYLLA & PARTNERS team was led by Mohamed Sidiki SYLLA, partner, assisted by Pierre Kodjo AVODE and Madigbè KABA.
To discover other infrastructure financing projects that our firm has completed in Guinea, visit our references page. For any questions regarding our services in advising international lenders or infrastructure financing, please do not hesitate to contact us.