Willingness to diversify pays dividends

In 2011 it got involved in a gem mine project in Zambia.

Sogecoa has also been involved in Chinese government aid projects, particularly in the early 2000s. In Mozambique these included the building for the Congress, the ministry of foreign affairs, an international convention center and a residential community for military officers. These projects were all finished in the early 2000s.

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In 2010 the company finished building a sports stadium in Maputo, costing 500 million yuan ($80.23 million). It was used in the All-Africa Games the following year.

These projects were all gifts from the Chinese government, which paid Sogecoa.

Tian Shiyue, vice-president of Anhui Foreign Economic Construction Co, parent company of Sogecoa, says diversification is key for the company's overseas development.

"We have quickly adapted to the economic changes in Africa in recent years, and that has paid off ," Tian says.

Construction projects and investment are two pillars of Sogecoa's operations, he says.

"Other construction companies tend to treat construction projects as tasks, and whenever they finish the task they leave the country.

"But we treat them as opportunities because we aim for long-term development here. We invest in our own business and our own construction projects, rather than depending purely on aid projects."

Zhou says that over the past two years, the Mozambique company has gradually given more attention to Beira, because Maputo's location in the far south makes it inconvenient for communication and logistics reasons. In future, more investment will flow to Beira, he says.

"Stability is a prerequisite for a company's development, and Mozambique has very good social order. Apart from that, the country's economy has grown at an average of about 7-8 percent every year for the past 10 years.

"Now the country has become an international investment hot spot, and I'm sure it will attract more and more investors," Zhou says.

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