Egypt says it plans to build a new government and financial capital district near Cairo that could take $45 billion and more than seven years to construct.
Photo by Shem Oirere Kenya has launched a $2.8-billion, 10,000-km road-paving program, to be completed in 2017. Related Links: Rising Cement Demand in East Africa Draws European Manufacturers Sub-Saharan Africa's Energy Sector on Growth Trajectory in 2015 With many countries in Africa planning or implementing major highway building programs, demand for asphalt is expected to rise. That has prompted an increase in asphalt imports and a French asphalt company’s acquisition of a large West African company.Imported asphalt’s price is much lower than locally produced material, especially in Nigeria, where marketers are lobbying for punitive import taxes. The low price of
Courtesy ARRUP Pipeline developers face risks of securing rights of way and permitting issues involving multiple provincial and national jurisdictions, says an official with South Africa's ARRUP. Courtesy Edison Trans Saharan Gas Pipeline will deliver an estimated 8 billion cu m of natural gas annually to Italy from Algeria. Africa is expanding its oil and gas pipeline network as countries in the region move to entrench distribution of the commodities in the domestic market and transport more to regional and international markets.Algeria, Uganda, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Ghana are at various stages of oil and gas pipeline construction projects to
Image Courtesy of Middle East Development LLC. Construction of a $1-billion, 540-meter-tall tower in Casablanca, Morocco, is tentatively planned to commence in June. The planned tower would be tallest in Africa. Construction of a $1-billion, 540-meter-tall tower in Casablanca, Morocco, is tentatively planned to commence in June, bringing the prospect for superseding South Africa’s 223-m Carlton Centre in Johannesburg city as the tallest structure in Africa.However, project manager Amedee Santalo says the developer, Middle East Development LLC, has yet to put final touches on a deal with the Moroccan government, and with the tower being such a huge project, “it
IndustriALL Global Union Workers in Nigeria protest feared job losses in the $44-billion global merger of European cement giants Lafarge and Holcim. Related Links: Cement Firms Lafarge and Holcim Face Hurdles in Planned $60-Billion Merger The planned merger of Euopean-based global cement giants Holcim and Lafarge into a $44-billion megafirm—the world's largest cement manufacturer—took a key step in smoothing antitrust concerns with the Feb. 1 sale of major global assets to Irish cement firm CRH plc for $7.3 billion. But international worker unions are protesting the transaction, which is set to create a 136,000-employee giant, claiming it would cost thousands
Scores of construction workers and subcontractors in Nairobi, Kenya's capital, could face lean times in the coming months after a state-owned agency suspended building construction begun between last June and this January. The National Construction Authority said it declared the moratorium on new residential and commercial buildings to do structural safety audits after two buildings collapsed in early January, killing at least eight people.The agency, which regulates construction in the East Africa nation, said that, despite the job losses at building sites, the moritorium will allow developers to comply with regulations to ensure “stable structures for the safety of both
Courtesy IEA Two coal-fired powerplants are scheduled to add 9,000MW to the South African grid by 2020. Courtesy IEA Power production projects underway are expected to fuel regional GDP growth projected at 5% in 2015. Despite the challenges of inadequate policy, problems of pricing and lack of infrastructure, analysts say countries in sub Saharan Africa hope to increase power generation in 2015. The region is launching initiatives designed to meet the demands of projected GDP growth of more than 5% and also provide power to many of the 620 million people who currently live without access to electricity.Despite existing constraints,
Related Links: Pushback Against Chinese Workers Escalates in Africa Chinese construction companies in Namibia have been hit by a series of worker strikes over poor pay, job discrimination and lack of jobsite health and safety protections.Construction of the $49-million, 231-kilometer Otjinene-Okondjatu trunk road by China Henan International Cooperation Group (Chico) was disrupted in November after more than 80 Namibian workers protested safety conditions.The workers accused Chico of ferrying them in overcrowded and non-roadworthy open trucks and claimed the firm was using an outdated stone crusher that forced them to go inside it "to remove stuck stones,” exposing them to danger.Lack
Despite its associated energy costs and the availability of cheap imports from China and Pakistan, demand for cement in East Africa has continued to rise. The need to increase cement production to feed the region's booming construction industry dominated discussions at a workshop meeting of East African cement producers and German cement-equipment manufacturers in Nairobi, Kenya, on Nov. 20.Annual demand for cement in East Africa is now estimated at 6 million metric tons, with Kenya’s demand alone estimated at some 3.5 million metric tons, according to Kenya's National Construction Authority (NCA).East Africa's cement makers, including subsidiaries of German-based Heidelberg and
Enlarge Map by Jeffrey Cox/ ENR This new line will extend rail service to Calabar. China Railway Construction Corp. will export $4 billion worth of construction machinery, trains and steel products to Nigeria for the construction of the $11.97-billion Coastal Railway Project, whose final contract was signed in the West Africa nation’s capital, Abuja, in November.The Chinese firm said that, under the contract, the largest single award for any Chinese company overseas, a single track of 1,402-kilometer-long standard-gauge railway will be constructed to link the commercial city of Lagos to the eastern port city of Calabar on the Nigerian coast.CRCC