Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) has announced that they would invest US$205m in Alufer Mining Limited for the development of Guinea-Conakry’s high grade bauxite reserves.
Chief Investment Officer of AFC, Oliver Andrews announced during an event that they would continue with their investment in bauxite mining sector considering the growth in global aluminium demand. AFC is the sole private sector African investor in the Bel Air Mine, which is a world class mine that sticks to the best environmental practises.
“We are encouraged to see that Alufer has been working with the local community to develop sustainable projects which assist in the provision of drinking water, as well as development of local infrastructure and job creation”, he stated.
“AFC is developing African economies that have suffered conflict and crisis…investment in Guinea’s infrastructure will help to rebuild and diversify the economy following the Ebola crisis”.
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According to him, the project would be one of the largest foreign investments in the country when completed. The mining project is expected to increase the production level which currently was greater than 6 per cent per annum. This is based on the 5-year growth forecast for aluminium consumption driven by growing Chinese demand.
The change in supply and demand dynamics, he expected, would create potential to ship high grade bauxite ore from Guinea to growing markets such as China on profitable terms. This would boost Guinea’s GDP, as presently, Guinea has a trade deficit ratio of c.20:1 with China.
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