The African Development Bank Group (AfDB) announced on Monday the conclusion of a settlement agreement with CHINT Electric Co., Ltd., a power transmission and distribution equipment manufacturer and EPC contractor, debarring the Chinese company for 36 months for fraudulent practices
An investigation conducted by the Bank’s Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption established that CHINT Electric engaged in a multitude of fraudulent practices. In bidding for contracts in the context of numerous Bank-financed power projects, the company misrepresented its experience with similar assignments in order to meet qualification requirements, the Bank said.
As part of the settlement, in consideration of the company’s cooperation with the investigation, the AfDB imposes a debarment on CHINT Electric for a period of three years, subject to the company enhancing its corporate compliance program within that period to the institution’s full satisfaction.
During the debarment period, the company is ineligible to be awarded contracts under any African Development Bank-financed project or to be a subcontractor, consultant, supplier, or service provider of an otherwise eligible firm in the context of a Bank-financed project.
The debarment qualifies for cross-debarment by other multilateral development banks under the Agreement for Mutual Enforcement of Debarment Decisions, including the Asian Development Bank, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, the Inter-American Development Bank and the World Bank Group.
The African Development Bank will verify the adequacy of CHINT Electric’s compliance framework and the robustness of its implementation prior to any release decision. In addition, CHINT Electric commits to cooperate with the Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption in its investigations of unrelated cases of misconduct in African Development Bank-financed projects. The period of debarment may be reduced to 24 months if CHINT Electric complies with all conditions of the agreement early.
“Procurement under the Bank’s rules aims at ensuring optimal value for money for the Bank’s Regional Member Countries,” said Bubacarr Sankareh, Acting Director of the AfDB Office of Integrity and Anti-Corruption. “The misrepresentation of a bidder’s qualifications materially undermines this objective and is therefore taken very seriously by the institution.”