China to loan Guinea $20 billion for aluminum ore extraction

Almaty. September 7. Silkroadnews – China will loan Guinea $20 billion for aluminum ore extraction, Reuters reported.
“China agreed on Wednesday to loan Guinea $20 billion over almost 20 years in exchange for concessions on bauxite, an ore of aluminum which the West African country has in abundance”, the report said.
The projects to be provided with the loan include alumina refinery, bauxite mine and another bauxite production project in the town of Boffa in the northwest of Guinea.
The funds will be invested into construction of infrastructure of one of the least developed countries in the world, namely the roads in the capital of Guinea and highway, expansion of the Conakry port, electric transmission lines and the university building.
According to the agency, last month the Chinese aluminum corporation Chalco said it plans to invest $500 million in the project in Boffa, about 200 kilometers from the capital of Conakry, British BHP Billiton abandoned in 2013.
Guinea, the leading bauxite producer in Africa, is said to have one of the world’s richest deposits of bauxite and iron ore, including the iron ore deposit of Shimandu, which is mired in legal disputes, but nevertheless attracted interest from China.