The World Bank estimates that only one-third of the population in sub Saharan Africa living in rural areas is “within two kilometers of an all-season road, compared with two-thirds of the population in other developing regions.
SolarReserve The 96-MW Jasper solar-energy project, near Kimberly, South Africa, came on line in October 2014. South Africa Photovoltaic Association Although Africa's rapid growth of residential solar installations is nourishing a nascent PV manufacturing base in Egypt, more mature offshore competitors from China and Canada (pictured) hold comfortably dominant market shares. Related Links: Google Invests In Solar Africa Sub-Saharan Africa's Energy Sector on Growth Trajectory in 2015 Despite Hiccups Egypt has prequalified 110 bidders for the construction of 2,000 MW of solar-photovoltaic and wind energy projects under the country’s first round of its new feed-in-tariff (FiT) program, launched in September
Related Links: Egypt Moves Forward on $6-Billion Petrochemical Project Dramatic Drop in Fuel Prices Starts to Ripple Through Costs Carbon Holdings, Egypt’s largest industrial developer and operator of downstream oil-and-gas projects, hopes to finalize funding for its $7.4-billion Tahrir Petrochemicals project by the end of the year. Key to the deal is a pledge by five financiers to back construction of the complex.Carbon Holdings CEO Basil El-Baz last year projected the greenfield project would reach financial closure by the fourth quarter and break ground in 2015, but delays in finalizing project financing have pushed back the schedule.El-Baz was quoted by
Image courtesy of Club of Mozambique Conceptual design of planned $8 billion to $10 billion Mozambique natural-gas-liquefaction facility. Related Links: First LNG Projects Under Way in Mozambique Africa Poised for LNG Boom Anadarko Petroleum Corp. and its partners hope to make a final decision by the end of 2015 on whether to proceed with a major onshore liquefied-natural-gas project in northern Mozambique.The project, valued at $8 billion to $10 billion, has taken a step forward with the May 18 construction contract award to a joint venture of Chicago Bridge & Iron Co. N.V., the Hague; Chiyoda Corp., Yokohama; and Saipem,
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