Chinese company builds goodwill in Africa

The company began work on Luanda General Hospital, which covers a construction area of 22,000 sq m, in late 2011 and handed it to its operators in February 2015. It has the capacity to treat up to 800 patients a day. It has 301 beds and specialized departments in areas such as internal medicine, surgery, gynecology and pediatrics.

During the hospital's construction, conditions were often challenging, according to Chen Zihua, a publicity staffer for CREC4, including the need to import construction materials, language barriers, a hot climate, rampant diseases and safety hazards.

The company imported tons of cement and steel, nails, daily necessities for its staff and other supplies from China, he said.

During a trip to Cunene province on April 3, Angolan President Joao Lourenco expressed his sincere thanks to the Chinese government and Chinese builders for their work. Lourenco toured projects such as Ondjiva General Hospital, the Ekuma II new city housing project and water diversion projects.

The projects will help create great potential for the commercial development of the Ekuma II new city, helping bolster economic development of Cunene province, he said.

Angola's Minister of Energy and Water, Joao Baptista Borges, while visiting the water diversion expansion project of the Southeast Water Purification Plant last year, said CREC4's technological capabilities helped to reduce the project's adverse impacts on urban traffic and residents' lives.

Upon completion, the plant will have the capacity to provide 12 million cubic meters of high-quality drinking water each month－equivalent to the amount of water in Hangzhou's West Lake in China－for nearly 3 million people living in Luanda, the company said. About half of the city's needs will be covered.

In Ethiopia, another country in which CREC4 is active, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed Ali made a visit on May 24 to a road and housing project being built by CREC4 First Engineering in the country's Southern Nations, Nationalities and People's Region.

The Chebera project in southwestern Ethiopia is a lodge and road-building project in an area renowned for Chebera Churchura National Park, which has one of the best-preserved ecosystems and newest parks in the country. The project has a contract value of 523.1 million yuan ($78.2 million) and includes the Chebera Luxury VIP Lodge and a new, 115-km road between Chebera and Churchura.

The prime minister toured the Chebera Luxury VIP Lodge project site and listened to reports on its progress, work safety and quality control from CREC4 project leader Gao Zhiqiang. He said he has confidence in the project and hopes the builders will be able to overcome difficulties and have the lodge finished by the end of August.

Since starting construction in June 2021, CREC4 builders have opened roads in forests and built bridges, making steady progress while fighting heat, mosquitoes and the danger of malaria and other diseases.

The magistrate of Ameya county in southwestern Ethiopia thanked CREC4 for providing over 400 jobs for residents and helping promote the local economy through construction and industrial progress, according to He Liming, CREC4 First Engineering's manager for Angola and Ethiopia operations.