One Chinese mining company is set to transform the economy of one African country.

Namibia East China Non-ferrous Metal Investments is to bring steelmaking to Nambia in southwest Africa for the first time.

It is planning an industrial park around an iron ore mining facility at Kunene, 700 km northwest of Windhoek.

The park will also have a steel factory that will employ mainly 10,000 local workers.

Li Ming, general manager of the company which is a subsidiary of Nanjing-based ECE, says it is a 100-year investment and is expected to yield about 3 billion tons of iron ore.

"We are making the investment for the long term. It will transform the local economy because at present there is very high local unemployment."

The project is likely to involve funding from one of the major Chinese policy banks, and the Chinese investors will also be responsible for developing local infrastructure, including rail links and port development. "There is no steel manufacturer in Namibia and a lack of industry generally," Li says.

Not all Chinese mining investment companies are taking such an interventionist approach.

Qinglan Financial Group is purely an investor and has taken stakes in numerous mineral properties including copper, gold, uranium, nickel, lead-zinc and potash projects in Africa.

Zhang Yan, executive partner of the Beijing-based company, says it is a good time to be a strategic investor.

"As a result of the current slump in the global mining industry, market values of mining companies have dropped significantly. Many of them still have valuable assets," he says.

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