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Oman’s Asyad Seeks Offers of Interest in Expanding Suwaiq Port

View of the seafront in Muscat, Oman, Feb. 12, 2010. (AP)
View of the seafront in Muscat, Oman, Feb. 12, 2010. (AP)
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Oman’s Asyad Seeks Offers of Interest in Expanding Suwaiq Port

View of the seafront in Muscat, Oman, Feb. 12, 2010. (AP)
View of the seafront in Muscat, Oman, Feb. 12, 2010. (AP)

Oman logistics group Asyad has invited local and international companies to send offers of interest in expanding Suwaiq port on the Gulf of Oman, the state news agency reported on Monday.

Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Abri, CEO of Asyad, said the expansion aimed to enable the port to handle large ships and all types of general, liquid and bulk goods, the agency said.

Port capacity will reach 10 million tons annually, half of it for general cargo and the rest for bulk materials, it said.

The project also includes the construction of multi-purpose berths with a depth of 14 meters to accommodate large ships.

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China's Lending to Africa Rises for First Time in Seven Years

Water vapor rises from cooling towers of a China Energy ultra-low emission coal-fired power plant in Sanhe, Hebei province, China (Reuters / Shivani Singh)
Water vapor rises from cooling towers of a China Energy ultra-low emission coal-fired power plant in Sanhe, Hebei province, China (Reuters / Shivani Singh)
TT
TT

China's Lending to Africa Rises for First Time in Seven Years

Water vapor rises from cooling towers of a China Energy ultra-low emission coal-fired power plant in Sanhe, Hebei province, China (Reuters / Shivani Singh)
Water vapor rises from cooling towers of a China Energy ultra-low emission coal-fired power plant in Sanhe, Hebei province, China (Reuters / Shivani Singh)

Chinese lenders approved loans worth $4.61 billion to Africa last year, marking the first annual increase since 2016, an independent study showed on Thursday.
Africa secured more than $10 billion in loans a year from China between 2012-2018, thanks to President Xi Jinping's Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), but the lending fell precipitously from the start of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020.
Last year's figure, a more than three-fold increase from 2022, shows China is keen to curb risks associated with highly indebted economies, the study by Boston University's Global Development Policy Centre found.
The new data comes as Beijing prepares to host African leaders next week for the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation, which takes place every three years.
Last year's biggest items include a nearly $1 billion loan from China Development Bank to Nigeria for the Kaduna-to-Kano Railway and a similar size liquidity facility by the lender to Egypt's central bank.
China has vaulted to the top bilateral lender for many African nations like Ethiopia in recent years.
Nearly a tenth of 2023 loans were for three solar and hydropower energy projects, the study found, illustrating a desire by China to move into funding renewable energy instead of coal-fired power plants.
In a separate development, the Chinese government affirmed on Thursday that quarter of all the country’s energy consumption now comes from clean sources, as Beijing rapidly pivots its huge economy to a greener footing.
The country is the world's largest emitter of greenhouse gasses, though has in recent years emerged as a global leader in renewable energy.
A white paper published Thursday said the proportion of “clean energy” in total national consumption rose from 15.5% to 26.4% over the past decade, according to State news agency Xinhua.