Chinese company promises 2.6 billion dollar iron deal to Liberia

A Chinese conglomerate has promised to spend 2.6 billion dollars on Liberia's main iron ore mine in the biggest investment ever made in the African nation, Investment Minister Richard Tolbert told AFP on Saturday. Tolbert said the China Union company had promised that within 12 months it will have built a one million tonne a year capacity refining factory at the Bong iron mines, about 150 kilometers (95 miles) north of Monrovia. "It is the highest investment in our country's history. They have already won the bid in a transparent manner and we are now concluding the signing of the contract," Tolbert said in an interview. The minister said China Union would give the government 40 million dollars just to sign the contract in January. "This is the highest amount any company ever gave us upon the conclusion of our negotiations. This is the cash the government will receive, to begin to fix the infrastructures of this country, and some of the social needs of our people." He said there would be 3,000 jobs created by the project with up to 15,000 following indirectly. "That is within two to three years. In the long term they have assured us that the direct jobs could be as many as 10-15,000, and the indirect ones as higher as 70,000." For full article click here.