MONDAY, 9.00AM:
A R2,5-billion contract to upgrade and operate transport links between Matadi and Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of Congo has been won by Group Five Goodwin, a subsidiary of the South African construction compay Group Five.
The contract, which will stretch over a number of years, will entail upgrading port facilities in both cities, as well as road and rail links which bypass an unnavigable stretch of the Congo River.
Chairman Peter Goodwin says the deal does not rely on Congo government funding. The arrangement allows the company to run the transport system which eventually will pay for itself. Banking group HSBC Equator, owned by HSBC and Nedbank, is putting finance together with South African and international funders.