Gov't drops China loan over Ts and Cs

BusinessWeek has learnt that one of the sticking points of the negotiations was over the choice of main contractor for the project. Negotiations had run from June and collapsed without agreement recently, it is understood.

China had provided a P3.4 million grant in May 2019 to fund the road’s feasibility study, in anticipation of negotiations towards the loan. Botswana had secured a pledge of P10.2 billion in concessional loans from China after government’s participation at the Forum for China Africa Cooperation in September 2018. The Chinese government had also written off P80 million in existing debt owed by Botswana.