China to give preferential credit to Madagascar for hydroelectric power project

ANTANANARIVO, April 6 (Xinhua) -- China will grant preferential credit to Madagascar for implementation of a hydroelectric power plant project in the northwest of the Malagasy capital of Antananarivo, said Zhang Wei, charge d'affaires of the Chinese embassy in Madagascar, at the signing ceremony of the agreement on Thursday.

"This project is the largest financial cooperation project in the history of cooperation between our two countries, and at the same time one of the largest Chinese financing projects in Africa in recent years," Zhang said.

The project includes the construction of a 64-MW hydroelectric power plant, with 90 km of transmission lines and transformers to connect to the regional grid of Antananarivo, he said, adding that once completed, the power generation volume of the plant is expected to reach an average of 311 million kilowatt-hours per year.

This project "highlights the importance of energy production, not only for access to electricity for each household, but also constitutes an inescapable lever for the country's industrialization, which is one of the foundations of Madagascar's emergence," Malagasy Foreign Minister Yvette Sylla said on the same occasion.

"It is undeniable that this will contribute to achieving the objective of access to energy for all" in Madagascar, she stressed.

For his part, Malagasy Minister of Energy and Hydrocarbons Soloniaina Rasamoelina Andriamanampisoa said this project will also contribute to the reduction of greenhouse gas production and the protection of the planet.

The head of Madagascar's diplomacy thanked the Chinese government and people "for their continuous support, not only to Madagascar's development efforts, but also to the efforts to overcome various challenges that this country and the Malagasy people face during difficult times."