The New Development Bank (NDB) approved loans for two infrastructure and sustainable development projects from China totaling 4.6 billion yuan (US$667 million) at the 19th meeting of the Board of Directors of the New Development Bank. The meeting, which was chaired by Marcos Troyjo, NDB Director for Brazil, was held in Shanghai on June 25.

The NDB will provide a loan of 2.1 billion yuan to China for the Ningxia Yinchuan Integrated Green Transport Development Project, which will be implemented in Ningxia Hui Autonomous Region.

The project is aimed at developing a green bus system and will improve public transport services in Yinchuan Municipality through replacing all existing natural gas-fueled buses with electric buses. The project includes the procurement of electric buses and associated equipment, the construction of bus lanes and depots, the development of an intelligent transport management system, and project management and capacity building.

The board of directors also approved a loan of 2.5 billion yuan to China for Lanzhou New Area (LNA) Regional Hub Multimodal Logistics and Transport Infrastructure Demonstration Project to be implemented in Gansu Province. Rapid industrial development of the LNA has generated a high demand for logistic services and created impediments for further economic development.

The NDB was established by Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa to mobilize resources for infrastructure and sustainable development projects in BRICS and other emerging economies and developing countries, complementing the existing efforts of multilateral and regional financial institutions for global growth and development.

It has since built up a busy pipeline of projects. Sustainable infrastructure development is at the core of the bank’s operational strategy for 2017 to 2021. In April, the NDB said that it plans to almost double its loan book to US$16 billion this year and increase its impact, as the bank seeks to broaden its global development partnerships and mobilize more institutional and private capital.

In 2018, the NDB approved 17 loans totaling around US$4.6 billion, building on its base of 13 loans worth US$3.4 billion as of the end of 2017. That brought the total loan book of the bank to 30 projects worth approximately US$8 billion by the end of last year.

The NDB announced that on March 31 its board of directors had approved five additional projects with loans aggregating to approximately US$1.2 billion, two in China and three in South Africa, taking its total loan book to US$9.2 billion. 

These five new projects include 825 million yuan for the Shengzhou Urban and Rural Integrated Water Supply and Sanitation Project (Phase II), US$300 million for the Guangxi Chongzuo Urban Water System Ecological Restoration Project, and US$480 million to Eskom for the Environmental Protection Project at Medupi Thermal Power Plant.

The final two projects involved local currency loans equivalent to US$80 million to the Industrial Development Corporation (IDC) for its Renewable Energy Sector Development Project, and US$220 million to South Africa’s Trans Caledon Tunnel Authority (TCTA) for work on the Lesotho Highlands Water Project (Phase II).