Exim Bank China Lends Ivory Coast $500 Million for Hydro

The Export-Import Bank of China will lend Ivory Coast $500 million for a hydroelectric dam built by Sinohydro Corp., the biggest amount given by the lender to the West African nation in 30 years, Ambassador Guoqing Zhang said in a statement.

Works started on Jan. 2 on the 275-megawatt plant at Soubre, in the southwest, and will continue for more than four years, Oil and Energy Minister Adama Toungara said in a separate statement. Both were handed to reporters in Abidjan, the commercial capital, today.