Announcement of One Million Seven Hundred Thousand Dollars Loan to Guinea on March 30, 1966

WOR~LD BANK~ 1818 H STREET, N.W., WASHINGTON D. C. 20433 TELEPHONE: EXECUTIVE 3-6360 Bank Press Release No. 66/9 Subject: $1.7 Million Loan to Guinea March 30, 1966 The World Bank has approved a loan equivalent to $1.7 million to the Republic of Guinea. The loan will finance the foreign exchange costs of field surveys and detailed engineering of a railroad, port and town to be built by the Government in connection with the development of Guinea's rich bauxite deposits. This will be the first Bank loan to be made exclusively for engineering work. The bauxite deposits in the Boke region of northwestern Guinea are among the most abundant in the world. In 1963 the Government of Guinea entered into an agree- ment with a subsidiary of the United States firm, Harvey Aluminum (Incorporated), with respect to the development of these deposits. To permit the transportation and shipment of the bauxite, it will be necessary to construct facilities which are expected to comprise a port capable of handling 2,000 tons of bauxite an hour, a town situated near Dougofissa, and a railroad line extending about 85 miles from the port to the proposed mine at Sangaredi. Preliminary engineering studies have been made by the engineering firm,Societe de Traction et d'Electricite (TRACTIONEL) of Brussels, Belgium; this firm will undertake the field surveys and detailed engineering work to complLe the project design. The engineering services to be financed by the Bank loan announced today will enable the Government of Guinea to obtain firmly based estimates of the con- struction costs of the proposed railway, port and township. The Bank loan will be for a term of 10 years and bear interest at the rate of 6% per annum. Amortization will begin March 15, 1969.