The construction of what is said to be Africa’s largest refinery and petrochemical complex, sited in Nigeria, would create training and jobs for at least 8,000 engineers and technicians, according to the main investor.Dangote Group of Companies, a large Nigeria-based industrial conglomerate, last year announced it will invest $9 billion in a 400,000-barrel-per-day refinery and a 600,000-metric-tonne-per-year polypropylene plant in the Lekki Free Trade Zone, which is jointly owned by a Chinese consortium.Dangote Group President Aliko Dangote said in Lagos in mid-February that his company will raise $3 billion in equity for the refinery and petrochemical plant.Last September, it signed
Morocco says development of five solar-power projects, estimated at $9.5 billion total, will proceed despite threats by some European financiers to pull out of the initiative because of the controversial presence of the country’s administration in the former Spanish colony of Western Sahara.Moroccan Foreign Minister Salaheddine Mezouar, as quoted by Reuters in early February, told the reluctant investors that Morocco has “no financing problems. We have several [investors]. There are the Japanese, Chinese and Gulf countries.” Moroccan authorities, however, have yet to reveal which lenders have solidified pledges to fund the ambitious energy development program.Undisclosed sources at Germany's state-owned banks and at
Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia. Related Links: Luanda Institute of Planning an Urban Management website (in Portuguese) Broadway Malyan news release London-based global architecture and urbanism practice Broadway Malyan has been selected to deliver an urban growth plan for Angola’s capital, Luanda.The company, which has operations in Asia, Europe and North America, won an international city-planning competition to accommodate, by 2030, a population of 13 million people in Luanda, which now has an estimated six million people.Malyan said in a statement that it would work closely with the Luanda Institute of Planning and Urban Management and a team of consultants, including
Photo by Shem Oirere Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta (center) led, in November 2013, the ceremonial start of the $3.8-billion railway contract. Image by McGraw Hill Construction The current contract covers the first 485-kilometer section of a $14-billion railway project that will link Mombasa to Kampala, Uganda. In the future, the system could be extended into Rwanda and Burundi. Related Links: Kenya Delays $3B Railway Project for Nine Months $650M Airport Project in Kenya Breaks Ground Three Kenyan government groups are investigating allegations of corruption and flawed bidding procedures for a $3.8-billion railway construction contract awarded to China Roads and Bridge
AP photo Slab collapse last November at a building site near Durban killed two workers and injured 29. Related Links: Rescue mission continues at Tongaat Mall A South African government probe set to begin in February into the deaths of two construction workers at a mall building site near Durban is expected to wrap up within six months.The national labor department launched the investigation into the collapse, last November, of a concrete slab at the site of the 15,000-sq-meter, three-story Tongaat Mall, which is about 30 kilometers north of Durban.The accident also injured 29 workers.In addition, the Engineering Council of
Related Links: African Airport Work Poised for Takeoff Court Ruling Endangers Start of Stalled 53-km Serengeti Road Project More than a year after its originally planned start of construction, Kenyan officials broke ground this past November on the $650-million Greenfield Terminal project at Kenya’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport (JKIA) in Nairobi, Kenya. Two Chinese contractors, Anhui Civil Engineering Group (ACEG) and China Aero Technology Engineering International Corp., will lead the construction of the 178,000-sq-meter terminal, designed by Pascall+Watson of London.Lucy Mbugua, acting managing director with project owner Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), said the new terminal will "increase the [airport's] suppressed
Related Links: AECOM Takes a Charge Related to Libyan Uprising Libya has revived its $100-billion housing infrastructure development program and re-contracted US firm AECOM Technology Corp. to manage its implementation and offer advice to the ministry of housing and utilities. The revival of North Africa's region's largest home-building program by state-owned Housing and Infrastructure Board (HIB) come at a time when many foreign companies are returning to Libya. Many firms fled during the bloody revolution of 2011 that toppled strongman Muammar Gaddaffi. Companies are trooping back as the new government intensifies renegotiation of stalled contracts. AECOM announced last week it has signed
Cameroon, one of West Africa’s promising economies, has announced a 5% salary boost for workers in the construction sector but failed to address their concerns over safety issues and over a simmering dispute over more Chinese workers filling domestic jobs in the industry.According to local media reports, Labour and Social Security Minister Gregoire Owona said the salary increase targets workers in both public and private construction sectors and that contractors are obligated to implement the new pay raise “with immediate effect.” He also said the daily transportation allowance would rise as well.One survey estimated that the average pay for construction
Photo courtesy of Eskom The $20.3-billion Kusile power project is one of the largest in southern Africa. Despite inroads by the Chinese, construction firms from Europe and the U.S. maintained a major share of African infrastructure projects, a new survey reports.Consultant Deloitte says U.S. and European companies are building 115 out of 332 projects of at least $50 million in size. Those projects have a total value of $233 billion.State-owned firms based in the People’s Republic of China, which have taken significant African market share in recent years, remain behind, with 38 projects.Private African-based construction contractors have taken 45, and
Map by Shem Oirer/ENR Art Department Tanzania's planned 480-kilometer highway project includes a 53-km section cutting through Serengeti National Park. Related Links: Tanzania Drives On With Planned Road Through Serengeti Park Serengeti Road Project Halted for Wildlife Study A recent court ruling clearing the way for a legal challenge to Tanzania's delayed plans for a 53-kilometer road across the world-famous Serengeti National Park has endangered the proposed project's construction.The regional East Africa Court of Justice (EACJ) ruled, in August, that because the Serengeti National Park is located within both Tanzania and Kenya, the court has the jurisdiction to hear the