Niger: New power line nears completion

China Railway International Group has said that construction of a 132kV transmission line from the Société de Raffinage de Zinder (Soraz) refinery to Zinder, Maradi and Malbaza will be finished in three months. The Chinese company is building the line under a contract awarded by Société Nigérienne d’Electricité (Nigelec). The line is intended to take surplus power from the refinery and supply it to the Nouvelle Cimenterie du Niger cement plant which is being built at Malbaza. The transmission project is being financed with a $73.3m concessional loan from the Export-Import Bank of China signed in November 2013.