On The Trail Of The Bin Laden Billions

The $200 billion deal that no other investment service will tell you about.

The super-rich Saudi bin Laden family plans to build a $70 billon bridge linking Africa and the Middle East. French, American and Middle Eastern companies are already lining-up to get a piece of the action. We could soon see a major profit opportunity shaping-up here…

It also drives home a point that I’ve been making here at Profit Hunter: Africa is simply the most exciting investment opportunity out there right now. And we’ve already got one of the most exciting pan-African investments tucked away in our portfolio – a small AIM-listed company that controls vital infrastructure assets across the continent. The mastermind behind this proposal is Tarek bin Laden, half-brother of the more colourful Osama. His Tarek Bin Laden Construction has been negotiating with the governments of Yemen and Djibouti about plans for a massive 28.5km bridge that will span the Red Sea.

The planned cross-sea bridge will carry a six-lane motorway and a railway between Yemen, on the southern tip of the Arabian Peninsula and Djibouti, in the Horn of Africa. It would also be one of the longest in the world.

$70 billion is just the tip of the iceberg

That $70 billion is just the tip of the iceberg though. Because bin Laden plans on building two whole new cities as well: one at either end of the bridge. The entire project is going to cost about $200 billion and will take approximately 15 years to complete. The bin Laden’s plan to put at least $10 billion of their own cash into the project, which probably gives you some idea about the kind of profits these savvy businessmen have spotted.

The story first emerged in the middle of last year and more details of the proposal have been coming out since. And the story keeps getting more exciting. In fact, Tarek bin Laden has already hired a Danish firm to design the bridge and construction is planned to begin next year.

The sheer scale of what they’re planning is mind-blowing and is going to totally transform the region. Just look at the two countries on either end of the bridge. The whole Yemeni economy is only expected to be worth $26 billion this year and Djibouti’s GDP is expected to be $954 million. These two little countries in the middle of nowhere might be about to move to the top of the growth-table. Djibouti and Yemen are about as far off most traditional investors’ maps as you can get. The economies of these two countries are so small that they don’t really get much attention. But the mega-rich Arab investors have spotted a clear opportunity.

A shot in the arm for Africa

"…the big advantage will be to take millions of African Muslims to Mecca, by train or by bus", says Djibouti’s Prime Minister Dileita Mohamed Dileita. That’s the kind of insight that comes from actually operating on the ground rather than looking at “emerging markets” opportunities from an office in the City or on Wall Street.

But it goes beyond that. The planned bridge and new cities are part of the deepening economic ties between Africa and the Middle East. The Gulf States are awash in oil profits, but they aren’t able to feed themselves. They’re increasingly looking to Africa to fill that need.

In fact, I’m willing to bet that this is simply the beginning of tide of Arab money that is going to be entering the continent.

The bridge is actually part of the bin Ladens’ broader plan to connect the Middle East with Muslim Africa. Not everyone is going to be thrilled by that idea. But we’re going to be paying close attention as more details about bin Laden’s bridge come out. A $200 billion project is bound to throw up some interesting opportunities.

And, of course, China is pumping billions of dollars into Africa as well. They’re investing in everything from mines and oil-fields to power its industries to agriculture to help feed its massive population…

I believe Africa is quite simply the hottest investment opportunity out there right now.

We’re already in there

We’ve already got two Africa plays in our portfolio and we’re scouring the continent for more overlooked opportunities. Not that I’m actually suggesting that we start investing directly in African markets. There are enough options out there that allow us invest in Africa’s growth while keeping our money in the established markets.

Like that little AIM-share that I mentioned…

Regards,

Manraaj Singh
Editor
Profit Hunter P.S. If you enjoyed this article then we encourage you to sign up for Profit Hunter. Track down exciting opportunities in the worlds’ emerging markets and always stay ahead of the curve.

^ Back to top

BlinkList
Del.icio.us
Digg
Facebook
Google Bookmarks
Livejournal
Newsvine
Reddit
StumbleUpon
Yahoo! My Web

On The Trail Of The Bin Laden Billions

RELATED ARTICLES

PROFIT HUNTER

FLEET STREET LETTER

On The Trail Of The Bin Laden Billions