Rebirth of England.

Chapter 826 West African Free Trade Area

In early November, the heads of state of Colo, Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso and Niger gathered in Dassau, the third largest city in Colo and an important city in the north, where they signed the "West African Five Countries Free Trade Agreement", officially announcing the birth of the "West African Free Trade Organization".

At present, the West African Free Trade Organization is a completely independent economic organization outside the Economic Community of West African States. According to the West African Five Free Trade Agreement, the five countries will trade at the lowest tariffs within the free trade zone formed and carry out in-depth cooperation in finance.

At the same time, Kolo, Burkina Faso and Niger signed an agreement to build a two-way railway passing through the three countries. According to this agreement, the West African Railway Group will invest in the construction of a "Dani Railway".

The Dagni Railway will start from Dassau, a major northern town in Koror and a border trade center, pass through several cities in Burkina Faso and Niger, and finally reach Niamey, the capital of Niger.

The entire railway is more than 700 kilometers long, with a total investment of more than US$50 billion. It will be invested, constructed and operated by the West African Railway Group.

After the completion of this railway, it will connect Kolo, Burkina Faso and Niger, greatly promoting economic and trade exchanges among the three parties.

An investment of more than 50 billion US dollars is indeed a lot, but the West African Railway Group will obtain the operating rights of this railway. The West African Railway Group will be a joint venture between the West African Group, the Kolo Industrial Investment Fund, the Government of Burkina Faso and the Government of Niger, with the West African Group holding 60% of its shares, the Kolo Industrial Investment Fund holding 25% of its shares, and the remaining 15% of the shares held by the governments of Burkina Faso and Niger.

The entire Dani Railway will be commissioned to be built by China Railway Group. China will provide a US$40 billion interest-free loan for the construction of the railway, which will be repaid in ten years. Therefore, the initial investment required by the West African Railway Group is only US$10 billion.

Once the railway is completed, it will be convenient for Kolo's funds to flow into Burkina Faso and Niger to build factories. The railway is directly connected to the Loda Railway in Kolo, and the products can be transported directly to the Port of Lomé for export.

This will create countless economic benefits for the three countries, thereby promoting their economic development.

If we only rely on Burkina Faso and Niger, we may not be able to afford the cost of such a railway - Niger at least has some oil resources, and although Burkina Faso has some mineral resources, they can be said to be one of the least developed countries in the world, and most of the people are below the poverty line.

But there are many historical reasons for the poverty in Burkina Faso. What Kolo values ​​is the agricultural and mining resources of Burkina Faso. Kolo has a limited land area and limited land suitable for farming.

Relatively speaking, their domestic agricultural investment prefers to grow cash crops such as coffee beans and cocoa. Therefore, the development of agricultural planting and mining in Burkina Faso can also provide support for the development of Colo.

Niger itself is cooperating with Kolo and China to build a crude oil pipeline directly to the port of Loti.

Part of the crude oil can be refined directly at the refining base near Loti in Kolo, and the remaining crude oil can be transported directly to China by tanker. The construction of the Dani Railway will also make the exchanges between the two countries closer.

Therefore, with Kolo Capital as the main player, the railway construction that benefits the three countries can also make Kolo's influence spread across the three countries - otherwise why would Burkina Faso and Niger be willing to open up their financial sectors to Kolo. At the same time, through the establishment of the West African Free Trade Zone, Kolo's many industries can also be developed in other countries.

For example, over the years, Kolo Media Group has acquired a number of television stations and newspapers in Ghana, Benin, Burkina Faso, South Africa and other countries, and established the Free Africa Media Group, which can spread their voice to a wider area.

The Prosperous Earth Foundation (PEF), led by David Miliband, has also established its African headquarters in Britta, the capital of Colo, and has begun investing funds to infiltrate education and media in countries surrounding Colo... uh, to fund it.

Some young scholars from these countries are able to receive funding from the Prosperous Earth Foundation to study or visit universities in Colorado and England, thereby strengthening their sense of identity.

"Our goal is to promote the democratization process in these countries and cultivate a group of young opinion leaders who are close to us, so as to spread the concept of 'civilization' among their people..."

Of course, compared to such ideological things, ordinary people care more about the increase in income and the improvement of living standards. Colo is also happy to invest in some basic processing industries to provide cheaper products for the entire Argos retail group and other retail networks.

In addition, Kolo Telecom has also entered the countries belonging to the West African Free Trade Zone and started to build mobile communication networks and broadband facilities in these countries.

In fact, the communications industry in Africa is also developing rapidly. According to the latest research report released by GSMA Africa Mobile Communications in 2011, the number of mobile communication users in Africa is expected to reach 6.49 million in the fourth quarter of this year. In the future, Africa will become the second largest mobile communications market after Asia and will develop into the fastest growing market for mobile communications business.

The report also points out that in the past five years, the number of mobile communication users in Africa has increased by 20% per year, and the total number of users is expected to reach 2012 million by the end of 7.35.

As the mobile communications industry market in Africa is yet to be developed, nearly 25% of the population in Africa's 36 largest mobile communications markets still cannot enjoy this service. If the penetration rate of mobile communications services reaches 100%, the GDP of the entire Africa will increase by US$350 billion, an increase of about 2%.

Due to historical reasons, the mobile communications industry in Africa has been greatly influenced by Europe. Therefore, the most widely used mobile communications technology in Africa is still the GSM standard. This also makes the development of Kolo Telecom, which owns shares in O2 Telecom and can obtain related communications technology from O2 Telecom, smoother.

At present, the construction of 2G network has been basically completed in Colo, and the assumption of 3G network has been completed in important cities including Britta, Loti and Dassault.

In the West African Free Trade Zone countries adjacent to Kolo, Kolo Telecom is also building a 2G network and will build a 3G network in key cities.

Especially because of the Dopod brand assembly plant that Honor Electronics has started to build in Kolo, more low-priced smartphones will enter the West African market in the future, which will also promote the construction of mobile networks in these regions.

(End of this chapter)