China will extend a $80-million loan to Cape Verde for social housing as well as to build a sports stadium and revamp the presidential palace, the African island nation's news agency said Thursday.

The agreement was signed Wednesday in the capital Praia by secretary of state for foreign affairs Jose Luis Rocha and the Chinese ambassador Li Chunhua, the official Inforpress news agency said.

Of the total amount, $63 million (48.5 million euros) is earmarked for social housing projects.

China is currently building a 15,000-seat sports stadium in Cape Verde which lies off the western African coast. The presidential palace in Praia has never been refurbished since the island nation's independence from Portugal in 1975.

China has aggressively moved into African markets, tapping into natural resources to fuel its own economy and also taken a major role in building roads, bridges and other infrastructure across the continent.