The shadowy China International Fund believes that its political
contacts will protect its deals after the election
The continuing power of Mines Minister Mahmoud Thiam
and the prospect that he will wield influence after the second
round of the presidential elections next month is good news for
the China International Fund's multibillion iron ore mining deal.
Yet many industry experts still doubt the capacity of CIF and
its Australian partner, Bellzone, to raise the necessary
finance for the project (AAC Vol 3 No 8). Neither of the candidates
in the second round Cellou Dalein Diallo or Alpha Condé
- have committed categorically either to retaining or scrapping
the deals. Yet it is clear that CIF is in a better position than
most to protect its interests in Guinea having built up a powerful
web of local protectors.The joint venture, Kalia Horizons Minerals,
gives CIF exclusive rights to develop the infrastructure linking
the port of Matakan by rail to Faranah, near Bellzone's deposits
at Kalia, and would if built represent the first part of the trans-Guinea
railway for which successive Guinean regimes have long wished....
(This article contains approximately 773 words)
