China company to install 4,000 km of fibre optics in Guinea

08:16 - 25 July 2015

A man walks past a logo during the presentation the Huawei's new smartphone, the Ascend P7, launched by China's Huawei Technologies in Paris, May 7, 2014. REUTERS/Philippe Wojazer/Files

Africa's largest exporter of bauxite, Guinea has seen its $6 billion economy hit by a fall in commodities prices and the worst Ebola epidemic on record, which has killed more than 11,000 people in West Africa.

Chinese technology firm Huawei will roll out 4,000 km of fibre optic cable in Guinea over the next two years to offer high-speed Internet access to most of the West African nation's people, the Guinean presidency said in a statement on Friday.

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Work on the $238 million project will begin this weekend and is due to be concluded by 2017, the statement said, adding that Guinea would become the first country in West Africa to benefit from such extensive coverage.

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