Rakeen launches Congo venture

Ras Al Khaimah-based property developer Rakeen launched its first real estate venture in Africa on Tuesday with construction projects valued at $540 million (Dh1.98 billion) in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Rakeen Congo will build a 4,000 square metre, 310-room luxury hotel, a conference centre, and a 23-floor residential tower in the capital Kinshasa. Construction will be finished by mid 2010.

Rakeen has projects underway or planned in the UAE, Iran and Georgia. In December it formed a joint venture with a company in India to enter the country's booming domestic real estate sector.

Sheikh Saud bin Saqr Al Qasimi, Crown Prince and Deputy Ruler of Ras Al Khaimah, after meeting with Congo's President Joseph Kabila, said he was weighing up the possibilities of investing also in the industrial sector of the central African nation.

"We are looking for a strong partnership. We are not here for just one area, we are here to study all areas. I hope that more co-operation will be announced," he said.

RAK Minerals and Metals Congo, operated by Ras Al Khaimah's investment authority, is already involved in copper and cobalt exploration in Katanga province – Congo's mineral heartland.

Earlier this year, Congo agreed a $9bn loan and investment package with China to build thousands of kilometres of roads and railways and help rehabilitate mining infrastructure in exchange for copper and cobalt concessions. But just as Chinese investment has grown rapidly in Africa, so too have business ventures by Arab investors. Big companies from the Middle East and North Africa have been pouring billions of dollars into African projects.