The state investment fund is launching Chinese companies into overseas markets where they pick up assets abandoned by Western and African companies
The China-Africa Development Fund’s expansion plans moved a step
forward with the opening of a new branch in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,
on 30 March. The office will pursue greater cooperation with the African
Union, also headquartered in the city. CADF’s chief representative in
Ethiopia is Wang Yong, who was Managing Director of CADF’s
Eastern Africa Investment Department in Beijing.
The Fund opened its first overseas branch in Johannesburg, South
Africa, in March 2009, giving it a listening post in the
continent’s largest economy. A third office is planned for Zambia. CADF
executives
have scoured the continent for investment opportunities. But while the
Fund had more than 100 projects under study in 2008, no more than 20
deals have been signed since then.
The first cooperation agreement signed by the China-Africa Development Fund was with the Tianjin North China Geological Exploration Bureau, a state-run mining enterprise, in December 2007.
April 2009: the China-Africa Development Fund and YTO Group
announced
a joint venture – the China-Africa Machinery Corporation – to
manufacture agricultural and construction equipment. YTO agreed to
invest US$20.1 million for...