stjorthotic Chapter 353
Chapter 353
Chapter 353
As a person in charge of CR’s overseas business, Zhou Tianming is very concerned about collecting project dynamics in various countries. He requires representative offices in all countries to regularly collect and sort out the media information of the country where they are located, and report it to the headquarters as reference materials.
The Internet is not yet very popular. This is a very meaningful work. On the one hand, we can understand market opportunities and market trends. On the other hand, we can understand what competitors are doing and how they are doing it.
On this day, in the international engineering news briefing he received, there was a piece of news about the Mbaram iron ore project in Cameroon. This report attracted his attention.
The information of the Cameroonian government’s development of the Mbaram iron ore project has been circulating for many years, but for the first time, Chinese and Russian companies have cooperated to jointly invest in the development of iron ore resources and infrastructure. This model is relatively novel and worthwhile. Where to learn from.
Zhou Tianming asked the Cameroon representative office to scan the full text of the report and send it to himself.
So he saw Chen Ling standing in the corner in the photo.
“It’s the project he is operating again?!” This was Zhou Tianming’s first reaction, surprised.
He didn’t expect Chen Ling to move so fast. Last year he implemented a port project for CS company, and this year he implemented a railway for his company. The total amount is several billion US dollars. How long has it been since then, he actually went to Cameroon to get a resource. A mega project of Canada Infrastructure?
The exclusive memorandum, as long as several conditions can be negotiated, then the project is very likely to land. CR Company has also tracked this project, and Zhou Tianming knew very well why this project could not be completed in the past.
The fundamental reason is that the Cameroonian government has no money to invest, and the direct reason is that the Cameroonian government is unable to combine resources and infrastructure due to the struggles among the various pieces of the Cameroonian government. CR Company has also worked hard on this, but the water is too deep and the interest groups involved are too complicated to promote.
This time, it is likely that Chen Ling has done it. CS company, Shuixi Iron and Steel, and Sherraf Iron and Steel were brought together to round up the project.
The posterity is terrible and I am declining!
Zhou Tianming was full of emotion and thought of another media report. That report is also related to the Iron Triangle, a project that directly competes with the Mbaram Iron Mine.
Does Chen Ling know the news? Zhou Tianming was not sure, he felt it necessary to remind Chen Ling. CS company is a competitor. Zhou Tianming doesn’t want to ignore it, but for Chen Ling, if he knows that there is a risk but doesn’t remind him in time, Zhou Tianming feels hard to get through.
Therefore, Zhou Tianming called Chen Ling to remind him that the Mbaram iron ore project has major risks.
Sure enough, Chen Ling knew nothing about it. After Chen Ling got the news, he asked Liang Bojun and Hou Yongsheng, but they didn’t have any information about it.
CR Company is one step ahead of its competitors in intelligence warfare, which reflects the value of the information collection work organized by Tianming Zhou. Chen Ling specifically asked Zhou Tianming how he knew the news. Zhou Tianming explained it. Chen Ling admired this practice very much and planned to use it in the future.
The risk mentioned by Zhou Tianming originated from a country in southern Cameroon, the Republic of Gabon.
Gabon is a country on the equator, with an area larger than Guangxi in China, but with a population of only 1.5 million, which is typically large and sparsely populated.
This small country is best known for its wealth. Gabon is rich in oil resources and is a member of OPEC. Because of its small population, its per capita GDP once exceeded 10,000 U.S. dollars. It was once the richest country in Sub-Saharan Africa. With its own economic strength, it became a member of OPEC after independence. A railway of more than 600 kilometers was built.
In addition, this country is rich in manganese ore resources, and its output ranks among the top in the world; 85% of the country’s land area is covered by virgin forests, and various precious wood resources are inexhaustible, attracting expedition tourists from all over the world to the country. Adventure in the forest park.
Despite being rich, the economy that mainly relies on oil resources is sitting on the back burner. Gabonese enjoy the benefits of Ugyen but forget to lay the foundation for the future.
When oil revenues were declining, the Gabonese thought of increasing the development of manganese and iron ore in the north. As a result, I finally remembered that the railway built decades ago should be ready to facilitate the transportation of ore.
The Gabonese government rummaged through its pockets and found that the money was not enough. What should it do? At this time, a Singapore company called Olang Group took the initiative to come to the door.
The main business of Aolang Group is agriculture. It grows and purchases coffee, cocoa, nuts, palm oil, cotton and so on all over the world. Because of Gabon’s superior geographic location and climatic conditions, Olang Group entered Gabon to plant oil palm with great momentum a few years ago, becoming the largest foreign-funded enterprise outside of the oil and gas field.
When the Olang Group knew that the Gabonese government wanted to build infrastructure but had no money, it took the initiative to do what it wanted and made a group of high-level officials, especially the relationship with the president’s family. Moreover, the controller behind the Olang Group is the well-known and powerful Singapore sovereign fund, so the Olang Group and the Gabonese government quickly signed a huge investment agreement in exchange for a large equity.
These rights and interests are not in the main business of the Aolang Group at all, but in the import and export operation rights of land and specific products, and the exclusive investment, construction and operation rights of infrastructure, including the investment and renovation of the Gabon railway project.
The Gabon Railway has a total length of 670 kilometers, a single-track standard gauge, and uses diesel locomotives. Construction started in 1978, and the entire line was only run through in 1986.
However, like most railways in Africa, the opening of the Gabonese Railway was the peak, and it has slowly declined since then. Due to poor management, the rails and vehicles are in disrepair for a long time, and the railway cannot operate at full capacity, and there are hidden safety hazards everywhere along the railway.
The Gabonese government intends to repair this railway to ensure the transportation of manganese ore; and extend another section to the Iron Triangle for the transportation of iron ore.
This project was exclusively signed by Aolang Group, claiming to have a total investment of one billion U.S. dollars.
In the information collected by Zhou Tianming, the preliminary design and bidding plan for this project have been completed, and the public bidding will begin in the third quarter. CR’s branch in Gabon has been following up on this project and plans to participate in the bidding.
If the Gabon railway project is promoted according to schedule, it will definitely be completed before the completion of the Mbaram iron ore project in Cameroon. By then, there will be a direct railway to the Atlantic in the iron triangle.
This will create competition for the railway in the Mbaram iron ore project and divert the traffic. In this case, the results obtained by the existing calculation models are difficult to achieve, which poses great risks to the future railway and port operations.
This is what Zhou Tianming wants to remind Chen Ling: the money invested can’t be collected!
This is indeed a big hidden danger. At least from the existing information, although Olang Group is not a professional infrastructure company, it is well managed and has a superior system. With the support of Singapore’s sovereign fund, it is very likely that the existing railway will be repaired.
Liang Bojun immediately became vigilant and said that the project risk must be reassessed. Chen Ling fully supported him, and he turned around to find Deputy Prime Minister Samuel.
Cameroon and Gabon are neighboring countries, and Samuel must know what the neighbors are doing. Now that you know, why do you want to promote this project?
Samuel really knew about this. After hearing Chen Ling’s complaint, he let Chen Ling not worry.
Samuel threw a report to Chen Ling and said: “This is an investigation report of ours. The investment plan of Olang Group is too big, including Gabon’s new capital airport, Gabon’s railway repair, Owendo port, and new coastal construction. Railways, national rural power grids, 1000 kilometers of national road upgrades, etc., have a total scale of more than 10 billion U.S. dollars, and Olang Group’s own total annual income is only 10 billion U.S. dollars. How to complete such a large investment plan?”
“His major shareholder Singapore Sovereign Fund can provide support.” Chen Ling said.
“Singapore’s sovereign fund only holds stocks, and will not give funds to Olang Group for investment in this non-main business.” Samuel explained, “Investments must be rewarded. This investment plan of Olang Group in Gabon must have another purpose.”