Beijing — China Engineering Company Ltd (CAMCE) has agreed to invest in the development of a 150-room hotel and golf complex at Lungi to accompany the upgrade of the airport in the Sierra Leonean town. The company is also to invest in modern ferry services between Lungi and the Freetown Peninsula.
These were some of the outcomes of the just-concluded mission of a West African delegation to China led by the President of the ECOWAS Commission, His Excellency, James Victor Gbeho.
During the visit, the Sierra Leonean delegation led by Deputy Minister of Finance and Economic Development, Honourable Foday Mansaray, also reached an agreement in principle with construction giant, China Gezhouba, on the road map for the implementation of some priority projects.
These include the Makeni-Kamakwie Highway Project under the first phase of the Makeni-Kamakwie-Fintonia-Madina Woula road scheme to link Sierra Leone with neighbouring Guinea and other ECOWAS Member States within the framework of the Trans-African Highway Project while improving transport facilitation in Sierra Leone.
The priority projects also involve the construction of the Regent-Grafton Road to improve transport facilitation in the municipality of Freetown and its environs, the construction of the second phase of the Bumbuna and Bekongor hydro electric projects, related sub-stations and power transmission infrastructure.
The two Chinese companies are also expected to sign a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) with the Government of Togo to develop and implement major road projects in that country.
During the visit, Ghana's delegation led by the Minister of Roads and Highways of Ghana, Honourable Joseph Gidisu, held further discussions with officials of the China CAMC Engineering Limited (CAMCE) and China Gezhouba Company Limited (CGGC).
These are for the156-kilometre Nkwanta-Oti Damango-Yendi road which is the subject of a contract for studies and design with CAMCE and financed by the ECOWAS Commission and the 238-kilometre Tema-Hohoe-Toase Cement road for which CGGC has already submitted fully-priced technical and financial proposals to the Ministry of Roads and Highways, for further consideration.
Both roads are part of the country's eastern corridor network and the ECOWAS portion of the Trans-West African Highway Road Network. There is also the 800- kilometre Western Corridor Highway project for which Ghana's Ministry of Roads and Highways has signed an MOU with CGGC. This is part of the Western Corridor and the ECOWAS-supported Trans-West African Highway Road Network.
Following the request of the Government of Ghana, the ECOWAS Commission is expected to continue to provide facilitation services towards the conclusion of Definitive Agreements for the take-off of the projects.
In separate meetings with the China-Africa Development Fund and the Export Import Bank of China, both financial institutions signaled their interest in strengthening and deepening relations with the ECOWAS Commission.
Both banks also pledged to work on all bankable regional integration projects with good business plans recommended to them by the ECOWAS Commission for implementation by Member States; starting with Sierra Leone and Ghana which were represented in the delegation.
During the week-long visit which also took the delegation to the Provinces of the Hubei and Sichuan, both provincial governments indicated interest in expanding economic cooperation and trade cooperation with the ECOWAS Commission.
On the last day of the visit, the President told ECOWAS Ambassadors accredited to the Peoples Republic of China that the Commission was impressed with the outcome of the mission and the enthusiasm demonstrated by Chinese government officials and representatives of the private sector to invest in West Africa.
He explained that the mission was to generate private sector investment in critical sectors of the region's economy, as well as in infrastructure, energy, agriculture, water resources and development of private sector linkages as an engine of growth for the region.
