Alpha Conde News

A French judge on Wednesday placed tycoon Vincent Bollore under formal investigation over allegations his company undercharged for work on behalf of presidential candidates in two African nations in return for port contracts.Bollore's company, Groupe Bollore, announced the decision by Judge Serge Tournaire, which came after Bollore had been questioned for two days by French fraud police.Bollore, whose logistics empire is a powerhouse in former French colonies across West Africa…

Guinea opened a new container terminal on Wednesday, part of a bauxite complex being developed in the West African country by Abu Dhabi investment fund Mubadala. Mubadala signed a $5 billion agreement with Guinea in 2013 to develop a bauxite mine, alumina refinery and a port in Guinea to secure raw material for the United Arab Emirate's aluminium plants. The terminal in the new port of Kamsar will be used by the complex as well as by third parties as an alternative to container facilities in Conakry. "This project remains an important milestone for my development programme for Guinea," President Alpha Conde said in a statement. Guinea has around seven billion tonnes of bauxite resources, over a quarter of the global total, the statement said.

A U.S. shipping firm is suing Alcoa for $300 million saying it suffered losses after the aluminium maker breached a contract with the Guinean government concerning bauxite shipments from the world's top exporter, court documents showed. Nanko Shipping and its president Mori Diane filed a civil complaint in the U.S. district court of the District of Columbia last week saying it had been harmed by Alcoa's refusal to honor the terms of the 1963 joint-venture mining deal with the Guinean government. That agreement established the Compagnie des Bauxites de Guinee (CBG), the largest bauxite mine in the West African country, and gave the government the right to choose a company to ship half of its production, according to a copy seen by Reuters.