Research On The Legal Issues Related To The China-Africa Project Financing Model:The Angola Mode

Faced with factors which have adversely affected the flow of funds to finance infrastructure in some countries on the African continent,financing from Chinese financial institutions has become a common and important source of finance for bridging the financing and infrastructure gaps for some African countries.The China-Africa infrastructure financing model,dubbed as “the Angola Mode”,has proliferated on the continent,yet a certain degree of uncertainty and challenges in understanding its(legal)nature and legal provisions still liggers due to the paucity of official data in the public domain,and perhaps,further due to most dialogues on the matter being based on other standpoints other than the legal perspective and/or the regulatory framework governing the subject matter.As a result of the above and other factors,this model has been put on spotlight and close scrutiny globally,usually accompanied by panic discourse.For purposes of providing a comprehensive picture of issues at stake,this thesis traces the legal basis for this structure’s distinct characteristics via a comparative study with some conventional project finance structures and provides contractual and policy recommendations to remedy and mitigating the risks that are reported to commonly relate to this model.Based on the undertaken comparative study of the Angola Mode transactions,the key finding of this thesis is that,from a theoretical point of view,the Angola Mode is an innovative amalgamation of conventional project financing structures,that is custom designed to meet the needs and interests of the parties.It is therefore anchored in international project finance law.In addition,the majority of legal issues related to the Angola Mode are typical for most,if not all project structures,but are justifiable and require consideration to ensure the proper and smooth continued usage of this model.With these results,this thesis provides contractual and policy recommendations to pragmatically address and/or mitigating these legal issues and risks.