INVESTMENT

China votes US$5b for Africa

The Chinese Government has voted $5billion for investments in Africa， Vice-President of the China-Africa Development Fund， Hu Zhirong has disclosed in August.

Speaking when he led a six-man delegation on a courtesy visit to the Director-General of the Bureau of Public Enterprises (BPE)， Ms Bolanle Onagoruwa， in her office in Abuja， the Vice-President said the private equity fund would be administered by the China-Africa Development Fund. BPE Spokesman， Mr. Chukwuma Nwokoh， disclosed this in a statement yesterday.

He said the Chinese Government had in Beijing set aside the funds to boost investments in developing economies particularly in the area of infrastructural development but that Nigeria had not benefitted from it.

However， he said， given the vast economic potentials in Nigeria， a delegation from the Fund was in the country to explore areas of interest where the funds could be invested.

Zhirong added that the funds were not for financing， but for investments in which the Chinese Government through its business community could take up shares in enterprises of interest in Nigeria.

Since arriving in Nigeria， he said the delegation had held consultations with some businessmen during which it discovered that there were investment opportunities in the power， road and transport sectors.

“We have held wide consultations since arrival in Nigeria and during our discussions we discovered that there are immediate investment opportunities in power and road， particularly the Benin- Ore Road”， he said. (thenationonlineng. net)

ZTE plans to exit DRC mobile joint venture

Despite being a major supplier of telecom gear in Africa， China-based ZTE has plans to exit the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

ZTE is selling its 51 percent stake in Congo China Telecom， the DRC’s fourth largest telecom company， jointly owned with the DRC government， which has a 49 percent stake in the company.

The DRC government is also considering selling its own stake in Congo China Telecom as part of a broader effort to divest some assets and transform more state-owned companies into private businesses.

Operation problems are said to be the major cause for ZTE’s exiting the DRC mobile market， which was being used as a stepping stone for further expansion into the regional market.

A number of international telecom operators including South Africa’s MTN and France Telecom are all planning to move into the DRC market， which has a huge potential for growth in mobile phones as most towns and communities are not yet connected to mobile communication network.

With a population of about 70 million and a mobile penetration of 17 percent， DRC is one of Africa’s largest and least developed countries because of long years of civil war.

While MTN wants to increase its geographical footprint， France Telecom hopes moving into DRC will help cushion the impact of lower revenue in Europe since the DRC telecom market is by far less mature compared to other markets in African countries.

France Telecom already operates in a number of African countries including， Cameroon， Kenya， Ivory Coast and Egypt.

France Telecom is the favorite to buy ZTE’s stake China Congo Telecom. Later， the company is expected to buy the government stake in the company to own it 100 percent. The combined transaction represents about $425 million.

ZTE， whose main business in Africa is supplying telecom gear， has not said why it is exiting the DRC market.

But telecom analyst believes the exit of ZTE from the telecom market has to do with problems in supplying telecom equipment to the DRC market.

Mervin Miemoukanda， a research analyst at Frost and Sullivan (South Africa)， said ZTE had difficulties supplying telecom equipment to other operators in the DRC because it was viewed as a competitor in the telecom market. As a result， Miemoukanda said the company could not perform well on its equipment business. (news.idg.no)

Ghana to borrow US$800m from China to develop gas

Ghana will borrow US$800 million from the stateowned China Development Bank to develop its natural gas infrastructure and the first gas could be expected by the end of 2012 or early 2013， the head of the Ghana National Gas Company said.

George Sipa-Adzah Yankey， who did not give any details on the loan， also said on Thursday that Ghana’s gas production is expected to stabilise at around 120 million cubic feet per day. The deal， which has been signed off by the cabinet but needs parliamentary approval， comes after the West African state joined Africa’s club of oil-producing nations in December last year when its Jubilee field came on line. A gas pipeline will link the offshore production site to a new processing plant in the Western regional of Bonwire as part of efforts to boost the country’s energy supplies.

“The China Development Bank have agreed to finance the project and plans have reached advanced stage，” Yankey said， adding that the project would take 18-20 months to complete. Yankey said the contract to build the infrastructure has been awarded to Houston-based INTECSEA， which is part of the WorleyParsons Group.

“We are expecting the infrastructure to be fully installed and first gas commissioned by end of 2012 or latest early 2013，” he added. Most of the gas will fuel Ghana’s gas-fired power plant at Aboadze but Ghana aims to export gas in the future， he said. (engineeringnews.co.za)

Mozambique’s exports to China rise 6.1 pct in 1st half

In the first six months of this year China imported US$94.6 million in goods from Mozambique， which is a year-on-year rise of 6.1 percent， the assistant director general of the China Foreign Trade Centre， Wang Runsheng said in Maputo on August 5.

Wang Runsheng， who was speaking during a conference to promote the China Import-Export Fair (Guangzhou Fair) said that in the same period China exported US$320 million in goods to Mozambique， which was a rise of 41 percent against the same period of 2010.

The Chinese official also said that Mozambique had mainly exported agricultural products such as cashews， wood and cotton， whilst it imported a variety of products including electronic machinery and clothing， amongst others.

“Mozambique is traditionally strong in the agricultural market and thus we invited business owners and especially small and medium-sized Mozambican companies to take part in the Guangzhou Fair，” said Runsheng.

He also noted that Mozambican exports had gradually increased and gave as an example the fact that between January and April of this year Mozambique had exported products worth US$62.3 million to China， which was a rise of 49.35 percent as compared to the last four months of 2010.

In the same period Mozambique imported around US$100.9 million in goods from China， which was a rise in Chinese exports of 32.88 percent in the same period.(macauhub)

Kenyan factories to assemble Chinese cars， trucks

Chery Automobile is to become the second Chinese vehicle maker to build an assembly plant in Kenya， joining truck manufacturer Beiqi Foton Motors in a move to tap east African demand and further strengthening Chinese links with the continent on August 10.

“They (Chery) are discussing with the(Chinese) government so that they can get some $50 million to invest in Kenya through an assembly plant，” said Justus Nguu， the director of Stantech Motors， the Kenya franchise holder of Chery.

China has made big inroads in Africa， where it is seeking to secure energy， minerals and food.

Chery Automobile， which started selling cars overseas in 2002， and is now China’s biggest auto exporter， aims to set up its plant next year after tasting the market by venturing into Kenya in 2010 through a franchise.

The firm sold a modest 120 cars last year， but aims to produce 1，000 units in 2013 at its plant which will serve Kenya， east Africa’s biggest economy， and other countries in the region.

Chery Automobile， China’s largest indigenous car maker， aims to increase auto exports by over 30 percent this year to 120，000 vehicles. The firm targets developing nations in Southeast Asia， Middle East， South America and Africa. Chery operates 16 assembly plants overseas.

The Chinese will have to battle with Japanese vehicles which have saturated the Kenyan car market. Toyota Motors controls about 65 percent of the market， mainly through the second-hand segment.

The truck business is dominated by established players CMC Holdings and the Kenyan unit of General Motors.

General Motors East Africa， Associated Vehicle Assemblers and Kenya Vehicle Manufacturers are the established players in Kenya’s motor vehicle assembly sector.

Analysts said proximity to growing markets was the key driver for the firms planning to set up in Kenya.

“(The delay in) lead time for orders ... has made it strategically important for auto manufacturers targeting Africa to want a serious presence in Africa，” said Hanningtone Gaya， an independent regional vehicle analyst based in Nairobi.

China’s truck maker， Shanghai-listed Beiqi Foton Motors， a unit of Beijing Automotive Industry Holdings Co(BAIC)， plans to begin construction of its assembly plant in Kenya this year， to help it nudge up sales on the continent.

The firm plans to double sales in Africa to 20，000 units by 2013 from last year by ramping up sales to economies that require heavy commercial vehicles for use in the building of their infrastructure projects， including roads， rails and ports.

“When you look at the international markets， we are still young. Africa is a good market for us，” Calvin Guo managing director of the Kenyan subsidiary of Beiqi Foton Motors.

“In Africa ... Kenya has a very strategic position ... good socio-economic base for us to open an assembly plant，” said Guo. (af.reuters.com)