Chinese funding for Ethiopian Railway bodes well for Allana Potash A news article on www.afrik.com noted that Chinese government is funding the construction of a 5,000 km railway line in Ethiopia. The article mentioned that after several years of actively seeking financial support for the development of a crucial transportation network, the Chinese Government has granted Ethiopia a multi-billion birr loan towards the construction of railway lines expected to stretch some 5,000 kilometers from Addis Ababa into the various regions of the Eastern African country.
The latest announcement regarding the Chinese government funding for the construction of a 5,000 km railway line in Ethiopia is a big positive for Allana’s potash project. Once the railway lines are built, after it starts production, Allana could potentially access Mersa Fatma Port, which is only 92 km away from its potash property to ship potash to huge markets in China and India. This is a big advantage since shipping potash to the fastest and largest markets of China and India is greatly facilitated as a result of the development of railway lines.
This development is important for Allana Potash (TSXV:AAA) as it validates the potential of Ethiopia as a mining destination and helps to build out the infrastructure that will be needed to advance Allana’s project towards production. The development of a robust infrastructure in the area will help to attract more attention from bigger miners in the area and could facilitate the building of a mining cluster in the region. As it develops its potash project, this will bode very well for juniors like Allana Potash, which will likely draw attention from bigger miners such as BHP Billiton.