China conducts feasibility study for constructing Guiguidou Agricultural Demonstration Center in Cote d'Ivoire

In February 2012, China carried out a feasibility study to establish an agricultural demonstration center (格格杜农业示范中心 or centre de démonstration agricole rizicole de Guiguidou) in Guiguidou, a rice reclamation area spanning 432 hectares near Divo in Lôh-Djiboua region. According to a November 2013 press release from the Government of the PRC, plans were still in preparation stages and the article described the project as combining government aid with a marketized demonstration operation. According to Xavier Auregan's research, this project will be financed by an interest-free loan from the Chinese Government. The Guiguidou operational center is the largest Chinese-run center in Africa spanning 442 hectares. The November 2013 Government of the PRC press release says this project is different from Chinese Agricultural Technical Assistance Missions (MATAC) to Guiguidou in the aid department captured in projects #66174, #70502, and #66175. As of September 2015, according to a Chinese foreign ministry article, plans to construct an agricultural demonstration center are still in formation. Futhermore, language from various articles such as the August 2019 Government of PRC press release as well as descriptions and pictures from an EchoGeo suggest the collective activities of the Chinese in Guiguidou and their "city" of labs and residences constitute a demonstration base (农业合作示范基地); as opposed to a single building called the Guiguidou Agricultural demonstration Center. It is unclear whether plans to build an agricultural demonstration center have been suspended. The Chinese Government also previously funded a water project in Guiguidou in 1995 (project #66160).

Number of official sources

6

Number of total sources

10