Construction in Guinea-Bissau of a Chinese-funded highway linking Osvaldo Vieira International Airport in Bissau to Safim should be finished in five months, Lusa says, quoting Guinean Prime Minister Nuno Gomes Nabiam.

Mr Gomes Nabiam said the Guinean capital would be a different place by then, with all the attributes of a modern city, the Portuguese news agency reported last Friday.

The report says the prime minister was speaking when he, several of his ministers and Chinese Ambassador to Guinea-Bissau Guo Ce inspected the construction work.

The Guinean government is studying how to compensate the owners of buildings demolished to make way for the highway, Lusa says.

In January last year Lusa reported that China would contribute 13.6 million euros (about US$14.7 million) towards the cost of the 14 km of highway.