(Yicai Global) Oct. 24 -- The China Development Bank will lend USD629 million to fund the Nigerian Lekki Deep Sea Port, Xinhua News Agency reported.

The project, build by China Harbour Engineering, held a signing ceremony in Largos yesterday, where the firm's Chairman Lin Yichong said the contract marked the first phase of the port's construction and operation.

The report did not disclose the term or interest rate for the loan.

The Lekki Port project is located in the Lagos Lekki Free Trade Zone and was built under the build-own-operate-transfer model. It cost USD1 billion and China Harbour will run it for 45 years, becoming one of the largest deep sea ports in West Africa and the first in the region controlled by a Chinese firm.