Mali eyes $9.5 bln rail projects to unlock iron ore, bauxite deposits

 

 Landlocked Mali aims to diversify its mining sector away from gold with Chinese-built rail projects worth $9.5 billion that would link it to the Atlantic coast, even as slowing Chinese growth and falling commodity prices cool investment.

The West African nation - the continent's third-largest gold producer - said last month it had signed a string of investment deals with China totalling $11 billion, with most of this going to finance the rail deals. Chinese authorities, however, have not confirmed the investment.

Mali said $8 billion would finance a 900-km (560-mile) railway to Guinea's port capital Conakry and $1.5 billion would renovate a rail link to Senegal's capital Dakar, Mali's main gateway port.

Reuters reports that the improved transport links would attract investors to under-explored resources such as iron ore, bauxite and uranium that are bulkier and more costly to transport than gold.

President Ibrahim Boubacar Keita is striving to kick start Mali's economy after a brief French-led war in early 2013 against northern Islamist rebels dragged it into recession. Last week it also became the sixth West African country to be touched by the deadly Ebola virus, which has killed nearly 5,000 people and hammered regional trade.