Guinea,

7RADE

    ;AccordingtoTheNation,Nigeria’sAmbassadorto

    ;ChinaAminulisaidonSept2thatNigeriawouldhave ;toincreaseitsexportstoChinaasthetradebalancewasin ;theratioof7=1infavouroftheAsiancountry. ;“ChineseexportstoNigeriastoodatsevenbiHiondo1-

    ;1arsin2010.whileNigeriaexportedgoodswortha1ittle1ess ;thanonebilliondollarstoChinaduringtheperiod.”

    ;Wali)whospokewithagroupofNigerianjournalists ;inBeijing,notedthatChinesebusinessmenandgovernment ;wereanxioustobuygoodsfromNigeria.

    ;“SomeNigerianbusinessmenhadapproachedusfor

    ;lnformationondoingbusinessinChinaandwealwaysen- ;couragedthemtolookmoreintheareasofsolidmineralsand ;agriculturalproduce.

    ;“NigeriaiscurrentlyChina’ssecondbiggesttrading

    ;partnerinAfrica—aftersouthAfrica_butwecanbenumber ;oneintwotothreeyears.

    ;“ThoughChinaismakinginroadsintheNigerianoi1

;sector,Iammoreconcernedwiththesolidmineralsandagri—

    ;culturalproduce.”

    ;WlaliobservedthatChinahadbeenabletoremove300 ;millionofitscitizensfrom1ivingbelowthepovertylevelin ;thelast30years,addingthatNriacouldadapttheAsian ;country’smode1.

    ;NewsAgencyofNigeria(NAN)reportsthatChina

    ;stil1has150millionofits1.3billionpopulationlivingbelow ;povertylevel,butthatindicationsongroundshowthatthey ;wouldsoonbeprosperous.

    ;“ThereareChinesethatarestillpoorbuttheyhavethe

    ;basicnecessitiesof1ireincludingelectricity,pipebornewater ;andfoodontheirtable.”Wlisaid.

    ;OntheinfluxofinferiorgoodsintoNigeriafromChi—

    ;na,hesaidthatdubiousNigerianbusinessmenwerelargelyto ;blame.

    ;TenfirmsbidforSh5bnroadproject

    ;AccordingtoBusinessDaily,teninternationalcontrac—

    ;torsarebiddingtorebuildtheTimboroa—Eldoretroadata

    ;costofSh5billion,theonlyremainingsectionofKenya’s

    ;maintrunkroadthatisyettobeimproved.

    ;esectionispartoftheNorthernTransportCorridor,

    ;themaintransitroutetothelandlockedUganda,Rwanda, ;Burundi,easternDemocraticRepublicofCongoandSouth ;Sudan.

    ;WhenthebidswereopenedonFriday,mostofthebid—

    ;dersturnedouttobebuildersfromChinawhohaveinrecent ;yearsdominatedthemulti—billionshillingroadcontruction ;projectsinKenya.

    ;?evareZhongmeiLtd,ChinaRoadandBridgeCon—

    ;struction,SinoHydroCorporationLimited,ChinaHenan ;Internationa1ChinaRailwaySevenGroupandChina ;YiLimited.

    ;TheywillbeupagainstSBIInternational,HYoung ;CompanyLtd.AustrianfirmStrabagInternationalandPLL ;IntexJr.Theawardwouldbeannouncedbeforeendofthe ;year.

    ;“WwillpickthebestevaluatedbidbyDecember.W

    ;willtakethreeyearstocompletetheproject,’’saidtheKenya

    ;NationalHighwaysAgencychiefexecutiveofficer,MrMi—

    ;chaelKidenda.mleagencyisresponsibleformaintenanceof ;highways.

    ;TheprojectwillbefinancedbytheAfricanDevelop—

    ;mentBank(Af][)B)amidfearsthatcontinuedweakeningof

    ;theshillingcouldpushupthecostofmaterialsbyalmosta ;billionshillings.

    ;AfI)BhascommittedUS$53.4一million(aboutSh4.97

    ;billion)fortheproject.

    ;Theprojectinvolvesrepairofthe73kmroadtoabitu—

    ;minousstandard(AsphaltHotMix)roadpassingthrough ;Timboroa,Nabkol,Kondoo,BurntForest,Cheptiretand ;Eldoret.

    ;O:一

    ;ThenewleadersofGuineaaremakingmulti—billion

    ;dollarmovesthatwillhopefullvhelpinthecountry’sreform

    ;afterdecadesofunrest.themineralrichnationisreadyto ;signaUS$5.8biUionmilliondealwiththestate—ownedChi—

    ;naPowerInvestment,accordingtoReuters.

    ;1hedealwillgivetheChinaPowerInvestmentdigging ;rightsoutsideofthecapital,Conakry.Inexchangetheinvest- ;mentcompanywillfinanceacoalpowerplant,adeepwater ;portandarefinery.currentlyGuineahasonlyonerefineryto ;produceitslargereserveofbauxite,theprincipleoreinalu—

    ;minum.

    ;Guinea’srulershavelongattemptedtobringinfrastruc—

    ;turetothecountryofabout10millionpeople.akhoughthe

;countryproduceshalfoftheworld’sbauxiteandisrichin

    ;othermineralssuchasironandgold,itspeopleareamong ;WstAfrka’spoorestnations.

    ;UponitsindependencefromFrancein1958,Guinea ;wascrippledbysevereinstabilityasitunderwentaseriesof ;corruptandviolentdictatorships.AlphaCondebecamethe ;country’sfirstdemocraticallyelectedpresidentlastyearafter

    ;anintenserun-o~withpoliticalrivalCellouDiallo.however ;anassassinationattemptlastJulyrevealedthecountry’scon—

    ;tinuedunrest.

    ;AsGuineafindsitsfootingintheinternationalbusi—

    ;hessworld.itlooksfirsttoimprovingitsinfrastructure,and ;Chinahasprovidedananswertotheproblems.Chindsin—

    ;creasedinterestinAfricahas1edtosevera1dealsinGuinea ;alone

    ;s固

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