(Ecofin Agency) - Yesterday, March 12, the giant Chinese construction group China Railway Construction Corporation (CRCC) signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the Ivorian financial group Phoenix Africa Partners Holding (PAPH) to build affordable and social housing in Côte d’Ivoire.

“Phoenix Africa partners Holding and China Railway Construction Corporation aim to jointly develop some low-cost and social housing which is an urgent necessity in Côte d’Ivoire,” said Michel Abrogoua, PAPH’s chairman, during the agreement signing ceremony.

This partnership “ is in line with the vision of a win-win cooperation, for jobs creation and, above all, technology transfer from a southern country to another partner in the South", he also said.

Sun Liang, CRCC’s Vice President, for his part, said: “Today we start our Ivorian journey in real estate construction, this denotes the strengthening of the Sino-Ivorian relation as far as businesses and technology are concerned”.

For the record, in Côte d’Ivoire, many Chinese companies are already active in infrastructure projects namely, the extension of the port of Abidjan, the construction of an Olympic stadium in Ebimpé (near Abidjan), the extension of the national grid and broadband fiber optics network. Also, with an 800% increase of the commercial exchanges with Côte d'Ivoire, between 2014 and 2016, China is now the country’s leading supplier and it’s third commercial partner.