RENEE MONTAGNE, Host: NPR's business news starts with China's latest move in Africa.</s>RENEE MONTAGNE, Host: In this deal, the Chinese company, Shandong Iron and Steel, will pay one-and-a- half billion dollars for a 25 percent stake in a mine owned by the company African Minerals. The investment will go towards developing the mine, as well as rail and port infrastructure needed to get the iron ore out of Sierra Leone. The deal also allows China to secure long-term iron ore supplies at discount prices.
A Chinese state-owned steel mill has made a deal with an iron ore producer in Sierra Leone in West Africa. It's the latest in a string of Chinese investments in Africa aimed at securing raw materials.