The Russian aluminum company Rusal is interested in building a railway in Guinea-Bissau, which will connect the West African country with several countries in the region, Foreign Minister of the Republic Carlos Pinto Pereira told the Portuguese agency Lusa.
According to the minister, representatives of Rusal discussed with the country's President, Umaro Sissoco Embalo, the possibility of building a railway in Guinea-Bissau as well as a deep-water port in the city of Buba. The discussions took place during the country's leader's visit to Moscow to celebrate World War II Victory Day.
The two infrastructure projects have been in the works for a long time, but Guinea-Bissauan governments, one after the other, have failed to find partners to implement them, the media reported. The minister stressed that, thanks to Rusal, the facilities, if they are built, will help connect Guinea-Bissau with landlocked Mali, Burkina Faso and Niger.
Aside from that, the Russian company has already signed another contract with the republic. Within its framework, Rusal should move on to the exploration of bauxite in the Boe area this year, Pereira said. According to the government of the West African country, reserves in the region exceed 113 million tonnes.
The construction of the railway and port will not be part of the bauxite exploration project, the minister explained.
Earlier, the head of the Russian Ministry of Natural Resources noted that Russia and Africa are now in "close cooperation," especially when it comes to countries like Angola, Guinea, Zimbabwe, Sudan, and South Africa.
However, the list of countries is not limited to just these five: in January, Kozlov signed a memorandum on relations in subsoil use and geology with Sierra Leone, which will allow geological and geophysical research, assessment of deposits and drawing up geological maps.