China aiding Nigerian free zone development

China aiding Nigerian free zone development    Nigeria is to develop a massive free trade zone in Lagos with the help of Chinese investors, Reuters reported Wednesday.
   The $5 billion project, dubbed the Lekki Free Zone, is a 3,000-hectare site on the eastern fringe of the city. The project is 60 percent held by Chinese investors and 40 percent by the Lagos state government. Among the Chinese investors are the China Railway Construction Corp., the China-Africa Development Fund, and the China Civil Engineering Construction Corp.
   Plans for the free zone include a new deepwater seaport and airport, with the aim of the free zone 'to make it easier for foreign investors, particularly manufacturers, to build a foothold in sub-Saharan Africa’s most populous nation and second-biggest economy while still owning 100 percent of their firms,' the report said.
   The free zone is to be modeled on similar zones developed throughout China that have turned the world's most populous nation into the world's biggest manufacturing giant.