UPDATE 1-China signs $90 mln Senegal deals, buys peanut oil

(Adds details, background on trip, national theatre)

By Alistair Thomson

DAKAR, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Visiting Chinese President Hu Jintao's delegation has signed loan and aid deals worth $90 million with Senegal, state media in the West African country reported on Saturday.

Hu is in Senegal on the second leg of a four-nation African tour seen as an effort to reassure Africa that Beijing will not ease up on aid and investment during hard economic times and that its interests on the continent extend beyond oil and mining.

The deals included a 11.8 billion CFA ($23.25 million) loan to renovate Senegal's public buses, financing for a 25 billion CFA ($49.26 million) secure government communications system and a 9 billion CFA francs $17.73 million gift, government daily Le Soleil reported after a signing ceremony late on Friday.

Funds for the communications system were secured through the Export-Import Bank of China, Senegalese state news agency APS reported.

Hu's delegation also signed a deal under which China will buy 10,000 tonnes of Senegalese groundnut oil, although Le Soleil gave no timeframe for the purchases. Groundnuts are one of the West African country's main crops.

China's interests in Africa have multiplied in recent years, with trade rising 10-fold since 2000 to nearly $107 billion last year, and Beijing has been at pains to reassure African nations it will not desert them during the economic slowdown.