Sierra Leone has halted plans to build a controversial, $400 million airport outside the capital of Freetown with a Chinese company and funded by Chinese loans.
The mega project, which was due to be completed in 2022, had been commissioned by the previous president Ernest Bai Koroma in March this year.
Its cancellation comes amid cooling enthusiasm in both Pakistan and Malaysia for Chinese loans backing large-scale infrastructure projects in recent months.
But Sierra Leone’s decision is the first time an African government has canceled an already announced, major China-backed deal.
“After serious consideration and diligence, it is the Government’s view that it is uneconomical to proceed with the construction of the new airport when the existing one is grossly under utilized,” said a letter from the country’s Minister of Transport and Aviation to the project’s director, published in local media.
The mega project, which was due to be completed in 2022, had been commissioned by the previous president Ernest Bai Koroma in March this year.
Its cancellation comes amid cooling enthusiasm in both Pakistan and Malaysia for Chinese loans backing large-scale infrastructure projects in recent months.
But Sierra Leone’s decision is the first time an African government has canceled an already announced, major China-backed deal.
“I do have the right to take the best decision for the country,” he said. It’s unclear if there are any financial penalties associated with canceling the deal.
Foreign Ministry spokesman Lu Kang told reporters Thursday the cancellation didn’t indicate any rift between China and Sierra Leone, claiming the project had only been in an exploratory phase.
“When cooperating with African countries that include Sierra Leone, China has always adhered to the principles of equality-based consultations and win-win cooperation,” the spokesman said.
“I don’t think this particular project should be overblown as an indication of problems between the Chinese and Sierra Leone governments.”
Sierra Leone is one of the world’s poorest countries and was ranked 184 out of 189 countries in the 2017 Human Development Index. It has been trying to stabilize its beleaguered economy over the last decade after coming out of a civil war and combating with a deadly Ebola epidemic in 2014.
News of the cancellation of the Chinese airport loan comes a few days after a team from the International Monetary Fund wrapped up a three-week long mission to the country. The IMF said the country’s economic environment remains challenging, with output growth expected to be under 4 % amid high inflation as it’s still recovering from a recent loss in iron ore mining and reduced activity in the non-mining sectors. The fund also welcomed the country’s attempts to stabilize its public debt and improve economic management.