Ghana welcomes South Korean building binge
Like Japan, South Korea lacks an abundance of natural resources. But Asia’s fourth largest economy is so energy-hungry and ravenous for food security, that it’s signed deals with countries such as Madagascar, that give it access to huge areas of farmland. It also wants African minerals such as copper and uranium, and is targeting billions of dollars for mining and energy projects in this area. But one construction firm has gone off in a different direction, pledging to build 200,000 houses in Ghana within six years at a cost of $10 billion. It’s a joint venture with Ghana’s government, which will own nearly half the homes. Ghana’s pretty well off in West African terms. It’s a top gold producer and is big on cocoa, timber, diamonds and bauxite (used in aluminium processing) and manganese (as a stainless steel alloy). New oil finds add to the allure. South Korea needs quite a few of these things in volume. Go figure.Read more: BBC, Time, Bloomberg
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