Africa Surveyors November-December 2022 digital issue

Africa Surveyors

PGS and

complete extensive data acquisition and imaging campaign in Egypt

PGS, in collaboration with EGAS, has completed an extensive 3D GeoStreamer data acquisition and imaging campaign in Egypt’s west Mediterranean Sea

They have captured post-stack depthmerge, over 24,000 sq km of data, raw and final KPSDM full-stack volumes in time and depth, migration velocity model in depth, and processing report. These data have now been merged into a single full stack depth seismic volume (KPSDM), including two pre-existing reprocessed overlapping MC3D surveys (legacy 3D data).

The wider area was mapped using 2D seismic data in 2016 and 2018, providing an

extensive overview of the regional geology and structure. The new West Egypt 3D Merge allows explorers to gain a far more detailed overview of the plays and structures available. This includes the shelf area, which is an extension of the proven onshore western desert play fairways and is likely to rank highly as a focus area for upcoming exploration activity.

"This merged MC3D volume is an ideal screening product for companies looking to rapidly evaluate the subsurface potential of this frontier area, prior to committing to pre-stack seismic products or entering the area. The PSDM volume is now available for licensing," said Mark Hamilton, PGS principal geoscientist for Africa, Mediterranean and Middle East.

Included in the scope are significant survey and positioning tasks to be undertaken by Reach Subsea subsidiary iSurvey. (Image Source: Adobe Stock)

Reach Subsea, a provider for oceanbased industries, has signed a conditional letter of offer and acceptance (LOA) for a significant project in West Africa (WAF), through which the company will be a sub-contractor to a major tier-one contractor

The assignment encompass support for installation and anchoring of an offshore unit, which implies a valuable broadening of Reach Subsea’s spectrum of services. Included in the scope are significant survey and positioning tasks to be undertaken by Reach Subsea subsidiary iSurvey. The project will be initiated towards late Q1 2023, and is expected to last well into Q2 2023.

'We experience a solid market for subsea

services. This significant contract improves our order backlog considerably and is evidence of the strong value proposition of our complete and integrated offeringincluding survey and positioning services delivered by our new colleagues in iSurvey. It confirms our ability to successfully compete for a broad range of complex assignments across the globe,' said CEO of Reach Subsea Jostein Alendal.

Reach Subsea will charter a hybrid-powered AHC/offshore construction vessel, mobilised with a work class remotely operated vehicles (ROV) for the project. The project has been awarded based on a strategic cooperation with key stakeholders for delivering high quality engineering and vessel solutions to the floater installation market.

Sercel has announced the sale of its 80,000-channel 508XT acquisition system and 24 Nomad 65 Neo broadband vibrators for deployment on a 3D mega-crew seismic survey in North Africa in late 2023.

This new equipment will join an existing installed base of two 508XT systems, representing a total 180,000 channels, and a fleet of 30 Nomad 90 Neo vibrators that were delivered in 2021 to equip two other major projects in the same area.

The Nomad 65 Neo all-terrain vibrator, selected for its ability to operate efficiently in harsh conditions, will be used with Sercel’s Smart LF software to reduce vibrator-induced low[1]frequency distortion and record a high-quality dataset over the widest frequency range. Sercel’s Vibrator Auto-Guidance solution will also be used to significantly increase vibroseis productivity. When combined with the reliable and easyto-deploy 508XT acquisition system, this set of equipment will ensure large-scale and error-free operations.

“We are very proud to have been selected to equip a major onshore survey in North Africa for the third time in under two years,” Emmanuelle Dubu, Sercel CEO, said. “It demonstrates once again that Sercel’s field-proven technology is an obvious choice for mega-crew configurations. With the combined performance of our 508XT, Nomad 65 Neo, Smart LF and Vibrator AutoGuidance solutions, our client will be well placed to overcome the challenges of desert operations while maintaining the highest productivity, reliability and safety levels.”

Sercel selected to supply 508XT acquisition equipment for seismic survey in North Africa

EGAS

Reach Subsea to install offshore unit in West Africa

Acquisition equipment for seismic survey |Image Sercel

Angola and Sierra Leone sign agreement on oil and gas collaborations

Angola’s National Agency for Oil, Gas and Biofuels (ANPG) and Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate signed a cooperation agreement at the Angola Oil & Gas (AOG) 2022 Conference & Exhibition in Luanda, with a view to establishing a shared commitment to promoting and intensifying collaboration across the oil and gas sector

The MoU was signed by Paulino Jerónimo, president of the ANPG, and Foday Mansaray, director general of Sierra Leone’s Petroleum Directorate.

The memorandum of understanding (MoU) serves to outline opportunities for bilateral trade and investment; position oil and gas cooperation as mutually beneficial economically, technologically, socially and environmentally for both countries, and reaffirm stronger economic, cultural and social ties between Angola and Sierra Leone.

As the largest oil producer on the African continent, Angola has been on a path of fostering pan-African energy diplomacy, executing diplomatic visits to and signing a series of cooperation agreements with new and existing hydrocarbon producers across the region. These agreements have targeted policy alignment, knowledge sharing and enhanced trade and investment across energy and non-energy sectors like.

“The MoU signals new opportunities for bilateral cooperation across the trade, energy and economic sectors between Angola and Sierra Leone. We are proud to collaborate with the Petroleum Directorate and are excited for what lies ahead for both nations. With this agreement, we can enhance the very industries that will drive Africa into a new era of economic progress,” stated Jerónimo.

Sierra Leone, for its part, is seeking to advance in its nascent oil and gas sector, having launched a licensing round last May, offering over 63,000 sq km of highly prospective acreage. The West African country is home to a working petroleum system that was supported by small-scale oil and gas discoveries, before exploration was put on pause around 2015-2016.

Eni to increase LNG production with second FLNG project offshore Republic of Congo

Eni has signed a contract with Wison Heavy Industry for the construction and installation of a Floating Liquefied Natural Gas (FLNG) unit with a capacity of 2.4 MTPA (million tons per annum). The FLNG will be deployed offshore the Republic of Congo.

The 380m long and 60m wide vessel will be anchored at a water depth of around 40m and will be able to store over 180,000m3 of LNG and 45,000m3 of LPG. Preliminary activities have already started, with long lead items ordered and steel cuts of cryogenic tanks occurring on Dec. 20.

This facility will be the second FLNG to be deployed in the Republic of Congo, the first one being Tango FLNG (0.6 MTPA capacity),

with LNG production expected to begin in 2023. With the second FLNG, the overall LNG production capacity on Marine XII will reach over 4.5 billion cubic meters per year in 2025.

Both initiatives are part of Marine XII gas valorization plan, in line with Eni’s strategy to leverage gas equity.

Kenya targets 30GW of green hydrogen after signing strategic deal with UK

an additional KES7.5bn investment. Plans at the 40MW solar plant, constructed by UK company Globeleq with finance from British International Investment, which was connected to the grid in December 2021, will double the size of Malindi Solar and add battery storage.

Kenya’s President said it aims to produce 30GW of green hydrogen production after signing a KES500bn deal with the UK to fast track green investments.

The UK-Kenya Strategic Partnership is an ambitious five-year agreement that aims to unlock benefits for both countries.

The UK Government will commit KES2bn to a new guarantee company that will lower investment risk and unlock KES12bn of climate finance for Kenyan projects over the next 3 years, through collaboration with CPF Financial Services and other private investors.

The Malindi Solar Expansion will receive

Other investments include KES425bn in Grand High Falls Dam –which will generate 1,000MW of hydroelectric capacity – KES12.5bn in Menengai Geothermal and KES31bn in United Green crop and agro-industrial processing system.

President HE William Ruto, addressing delegates at COP27, said Kenya’s electricity green is 93% green and outlined the potential of green hydrogen, before making the 30GW target.

“There exists in Kenya the opportunity to produce 20GW of wind power, 10GW of geothermal electricity, and being at the equator, considerable amounts of solar power. In East Africa there is sufficient hydro-electric potential to produce 100,000MW and if properly exploited, could generate enough clean energy for the whole of the continent.”

Kenya targets 30GW of green hydrogen after signing strategic deal with UK |Image courtesy

Coral-Sul FLNG, the first floating LNG facility ever to be deployed in the deep waters of the African continent. Photo Credit: Eni

xyzt.ai and Xouba partner to bring time to mobility analytics down from weeks to minutes

Xyzt.ai, a Leuven-based high-tech company offering an innovative visual analytics SaaS (Software as a Service) platform for big location data, has announced its partnership with Xouba, an innovative Spanish road safety and mobility analytics company.

Xouba, with offices in Europe and the US, is on a mission to bring traffic accidents down to zero. It is using floating vehicle data to help government agencies to gain insight into the main road safety issues.

Floating vehicle data is the collection of data records obtained from connected vehicles. It includes millions or even billions of GPS coordinates with speeds, of vehicles driving on our roads. It is a powerful data source for analysis, as it enables answering many traffic and road safety questions, not possible with data that is already aggregated at the street segment level.

However, few tools exist that can cope with the large amounts of data records, leaving traffic analysts to resort to custom data science workflows. This ad-hoc way of working often takes so much time and effort that floating vehicle data remains unused.

For this, Xouba has selected the xyzt.ai platform and by doing so has moved from a time-consuming data science workflow to an efficient no-code/low-code data analysis workflow. As a result, Xouba has reduced time to insight from weeks to minutes. It uses the xyzt.ai platform not only for analysis tasks, but also for creating insightful reports to share with their stakeholders.

Lida Joly, CEO at xyzt.ai, comments, “There are multiple hundreds of millions connected vehicles driving on our roads and the amount is only increasing. Connected vehicles generate billions of data points on how drivers behave and how the roads are used. This data can provide a tremendous number of insights on road safety and traffic efficiency. However, connected vehicle data is not easy to work with, due to the spatial, temporal, and data size challenges.

Visual Intelligence and Gremsy Partner to Scale Engineering Class Drone Data Collection

Visual Intelligence, the leader in delivering an emerging new category of Engineering Class 3d drone data to asset managers, has announced a partnership with Gremsy, a leading manufacturer of camera gimbal stabilizers for drones, to produce a multiple-axis gimbal capable of carrying a multiple-camera array tailored for vertical data capture. This partnership will enable customers to quickly purchase engineering-grade sensors and deploy fleets of drones to collect data in volume, across hundreds or thousands of sites.

Visual Intelligence and Gremsy have collaborated to develop a customized twoaxis version of the T3 gimbal compatible with Visual Intelligence patented MACS3D™ array technology. Built upon the T3 series, this version inherits its predecessor's advanced features and great compatibility with multiple drone platforms, making it a perfect choice to go with MACS-3D for data capture missions. The two-axis T3 system also offers superior performance and optimal weight for MACS-3D system, delivering a complete payload solution ready to fly with various drones, like the popular M300.

Gremsy also worked closely with Visual Intelligence to refine the Gremsy SDK to more closely integrate with Visual Intelligence’s suite of software tools. Other recent enhancements include quick-release for rapid field setup, interchangeable two and threeaxis gimbal versions, great compatibility with multiple aircraft flight controllers and built-in advanced functions for industrial uses.

“Gremsy’s ability to remain agile and move quickly has enabled us to rapidly develop our unique sensor technology,” said Ted Miller, Founder and Chairman of Visual Intelligence. “This partnership exponentially increases our manufacturing capabilities and improves international distribution, enabling more industries to adopt Engineering Class drone data into their workflows.

Esri is the global market leader in geographic information system (GIS) software, location intelligence, and mapping. This new specialty designation, which was announced on August 16, 2022, is only open to Esri Partner Network organizations that want to provide expertise in deploying and managing ArcGIS Enterprise in Kubernetes environments.

This Kubernetes specialty designation is for partners in the Esri Partner network who have expertise in deploying, configuring, and maintaining an ArcGIS Enterprise on Kubernetes as well as expertise in Kubernetes' best practices. This latest Esri specialty acknowledges ROK as subject

matter experts in this key area of growthKubernetes environments.

Since ROK Technologies was founded, they have focused on empowering GIS organizations with Cloud-first technologies so they can deliver exceptional GIS experiences to their customers.

Hexagon, OSASI partner for disaster management and prediction solutions

Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division and OSASI Technos Inc. announced a partnership to deliver next-generation disaster management and monitoring solutions. The wide area remote monitoring systems with 3D visualization capabilities will allow governments to detect, predict and simulate impending disasters, enabling them to better plan for and respond to emergency events. The news was announced today at a signing ceremony during the Belgian Economic Mission to Japan.

The partnership brings together OSASI’s advanced on-site sensors and monitoring solutions with the real-time situational awareness and location intelligence capabilities of Hexagon’s Luciad Portfolio. Combining on-site information, such as rainfall measurements and river water levels, with maps, 3D data and other information

from third-party sources will provide advanced visualization and real-time analysis to unlock insights for predicting and detecting landslides, mudflows, slope failures and other disasters faster.

“At Hexagon, our goal is to enable safer, smarter cities by providing governments and other organizations the tools they need to protect residents and visitors,” said Dirk Wagemans, senior vice president, commercial

business, Hexagon’s Safety, Infrastructure & Geospatial division. “By partnering with OSASI to deliver next-generation disaster management and monitoring solutions, governments have greater access to information and insights that could mitigate impacts of disasters and save lives.” “OSASI has been developing measurement instruments for the field and providing monitoring solutions for observation points through its information sharing services,” said Maki Yano, president of OSASI Technos Inc.

iNESS Data Twins of Commercial Spaces Powered by Bentley iTwin

iNESS 360 announced the addition of Data Twins of Commercial Spaces to Bentley Systems’ Powered by iTwin program. Data Twins of Commercial Spaces enables owners and operators to better manage the use of commercial spaces by integrating human behavior modeling with a building’s operations.

INESS converts commercial spaces into data streaming sources to model human behavior and how indoor circumstances affect that behavior by integrating the INESS system into the structure of the building. The system developed predictive models on usage trends and indoor circumstances to optimize space, energy usage, and operations without needing to invest in expensive BMS systems

By using the Bentley iTwin platform INESS will integrate the data and data models directly to the building architectural model and create a data twin of the day-cycle of the building.

“Imagine an internet where buildings are connected and talking,” said CEO Soner Haci.

“In the future, anyone would be able to buy data from commercial buildings. This data is the evolution of how companies are able to interact with modern commercial spaces. INESS is proud to announce our adoption of the Bentley iTwin platform to create the next version of Data Twins for Commercial Spaces that is not only smart, but also intelligent.”

“We are very pleased to have iNESS 360 add their Data Twins of Commercial Spaces to

the Powered by iTwin program,” said Adam Klatzkin, Vice President, iTwin Platform, at Bentley Systems. “In doing so, iNESS 360 joins the growing ecosystem of software developers enabling digital twin solutions with the iTwin platform. Their Data Twins of Commercial Spaces solution is a great example of how digital twin technology can model human behavior with streaming data to optimize indoor space, energy usage, and operations.”

iNESS Data Twins of Commercial Spaces Powered by Bentley iTwin | Image courtesy

Image: Hexagon

Subsea Technology Eastern Mediterranean conference and Expo 2023

In partnership with the Cyprus Hydrocarbons Company (CHC), Offshore magazine introduces Subsea Technology Eastern Mediterranean, a new conference and tabletop exhibition dedicated to facilitating the transfer of technology, best practices, and regional cross-border collaboration for sustainable offshore energy development in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Curated by top subject matter experts, the conference program will focus on subsea tieback technology and new concepts for sustainable development and operations, attracting senior technology and business management from the global offshore international operators, engineering firms, contractors, technology suppliers, service companies, and regulators.

Geo Week 2023

Geo Week is the intersection of geospatial + the built world. The event brings together AEC Next Expo & Conference, SPAR 3D Expo & Conference and the International Lidar Mapping Forum into a single powerhouse event. Co-located partner events include USIBD, ASPRS, MAPPS Annual Meeting. Industries covered include Architecture, Engineering & Construction; Asset & Facility Management; Disaster & Emergency Response; Earth Observation & Satellite Applications; Energy & Utilities, Infrastructure & Transportation; Land & Natural Resource Management, Mining & Aggregates, Surveying & Mapping, and Urban Planning/Smart Cities. The combined conference program and tradeshow floor

will feature commercial applications of 3D technologies, innovations and case studies in the built environment, advanced airborne and terrestrial remote sensing solutions, smart products for a full project team and much more! Professionals from a range of disciplines will network and gain insight into the increasing confluence of their worlds, providing even more opportunities to support the next generation of digital technology. It is presented by Geo Week News and organized by Diversified Communications, a global event producer that also organizes Commercial UAV Expo Americas, Commercial UAV Expo Europe (Amsterdam, The Netherlands), Digital Construction Week and GEO Business Show (London, UK).

CHC Navigation launches the version 8 of its Landstar Field Data Collection Software

CHC Navigation (CHCNAV) has released LandStar8, a Field Surveying and Mapping application for Android devices. LandStar8 is a versatile, modular and customizable software for topographic tasks such as surveying, stake out, cadastral, mapping and GIS. Building on the legacy of LandStar7, the new LandStar8 brings many new features such as a refined user interface, streamlined workflows, even faster operation and integrated cloud services.

“With LandStar8, we want to provide our users with unprecedented field experience

Presagis and Airbus Partner to Provide VELOCITY 5D Users Direct Access to OneAtlas Satellite Imagery

Presagis, developer of the VELOCITY 5D (V5D) digital twin production platform, has partnered with Airbus Defence and Space to give Presagis customers direct access to the OneAtlas satellite image library from inside the V5D workspace. V5D users can obtain Airbus imagery to fill in geospatial data gaps during digital twin generation or for dynamic updating after it has been created.

like never before. LandStar8’s modular design allows users to customize the interface according to their usage habits, making it easier and more efficient for field crews to work.” said Rachel Wang, Product Manager of CHC Navigation’s Surveying and Engineering Division. "We also built more cloud connectivity into the software. Whether it is backup, data storage or remote technical support, users can connect to their data anytime, anywhere."

Simplified interface layout to make surveyor’s life easier LandStar 8 has a simple and intuitive layout with large map windows and sharp graphics. Users can hide features they rarely use and display only those they use on a daily basis, making the interface more straightforward and easier to use. LandStar8 is a flexible and user-friendly field software for surveying and mapping tasks.

“Our content-on-demand partnership with Airbus puts the entire world of high-quality satellite imagery at the fingertips of V5D users,” said Jean-Michel Briere, Presagis President. “Direct OneAtlas access means our customers can search and access imagery from the geospatial industry’s most diverse offering of satellite data, including the new 30cm Pléiades Neo imagery.”

Launched in November 2022 by Presagis, V5D is a cloud-based platform that quickly and automatically converts massive volumes of geospatial data into high-fidelity 3D digital twins. With no geospatial processing expertise, V5D users can easily produce

accurate digital twins from multiple 2D data sets, including GIS vector layers, remote sensing imagery, and other structured and unstructured data of any size, format, or type.

OneAtlas from Airbus is an online portal that enables users to easily obtain the best satellite image, or combination of imagery, for their specific application, area of interest, and budget. Providing access primarily to the unrivaled Airbus constellation of optical imaging satellites, OneAtlas is the gateway for geospatial professionals to choose from a wide selection of image data resolutions, spectral bands, modes, swaths, and revisits.

The LandStar 8 APP’s functions are in use. Image CHCNAV

Presagis and Airbus Partner to Provide VELOCITY 5D. Image Presagis

Emlid released the upgraded survey app for iOS and Android

Emlid has introduced new functionality and a new name for its survey app. Emlid Flow is the highly upgraded ReachView 3 app featuring new professional survey tools to ease your work both in the field and the office.

The Emlid Flow functionality for fieldwork has been enhanced with linework and coding. For greater flexibility, Emlid has also launched a cloud-based service Emlid Flow 360 that allows managing survey data from the desktop in the office.

Linework

With Emlid Flow, you can create the linework on the go. Measure and move ahead with just a few taps using predefined geometry types or a full-blown code library. The linework is displayed immediately to show how the project is progressing. While staking a line using Emlid Flow visual guides, you can easily navigate to a line, and stake out a line with an offset and with a chainage.

Point

Coding

Emlid Flow supports the coding of points and lines during collection in the field. You can upload a custom code library or use a standard one built into Emlid Flow, which has more than a hundred codes. No need to type the description for each point and line—just choose a code from a library at your

One Navigation Launches

Point One Navigation, a leader in precise positioning technology, has announced its FusionEngine software, a complete, high-performance ASIL-rated precise location solution for Automotive applications is now compatible with ST’s TeseoAPP (Teseo ASIL Precise Positioning) GNSS Chipset. The combined solution assures functional safety at ASIL-B, a critical requirement for Level 3+ ADAS systems.

Point One’s FusionEngine is a trusted, tightly coupled positioning solution built on the Company’s proprietary self-calibrating sensorfusion algorithms. Fusion Engine can be easily integrated into a variety of host processors that are used for enabling Level 3+ ADAS and autonomous driving systems.

FusionEngine combines data from multiple sensors, including ST’s TeseoAPP multi-band GNSS receiver, to assure the high accuracy, safety, and integrity required for higher levels of autonomous vehicles.

fingertips. Quickly switch between different object codes, start or continue collecting the lines, and create new codes right in a survey project.

Satellite map view

One more new feature brings several map layers. Now you can switch between a standard map and satellite imagery.

ASIL Positioning Engine to Enable Safe and Precise Autonomous Vehicles

The combination of ST’s TeseoAPP receiver and the STA5365S external RF front-end provides dual-band precise raw measurement data for all visible GNSS satellites to the main host processor, where Point One’s FusionEngine is integrated. The TeseoAPP receiver and chipset are compliant with ST’s Automotive Grade qualification. This includes AEC-Q100 and ISO 26262.

Point One’s FusionEngine enables developers to complete the Functional Safety Concept Phase for their host system software integration. This includes the definition of Safety Goals, Functional Safety Requirements (FSR) and Technical Safety Requirements (TSR) as well as the test methods to provide evidence of successful integration. These test methods are then fully executed and audited to achieve the assigned ASIL rating.

"Building on the foundation of ST’s TeseoAPP, we are enhancing safety in production automotive applications,” said Aaron Nathan,

CEO at Point One Navigation. “We’ve leveraged ST’s expertise in automotive-grade qualification to bring to market a complete solution that offers both high performance and reliability. Our customers can now achieve ASIL B safety for today’s most advanced vehicle applications."

Point One’s FusionEngine paired with STMicroelectronics TeseoAPP Chipset is a competitively priced, production-ready positioning solution for automotive OEMs developing navigation and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) | Image Point One

The Emlid Flow functionality for fieldwork has been enhanced with linework and coding I Image Emlid

COREN Seeks Signatory to Washington Accord for Smooth Mobility of Nigerian Engineers

The Council for the Regulation of Engineering in Nigeria (COREN) has disclosed that it was pushing to ensure that Nigerian engineers are able to ply their trade in any part of the world which are signatories to the Washington accord.

President and Chairman of Council of COREN, Mr. Ali Rabiu, in a statement in Abuja, explained that meetings were already being held to allow Nigerians practice in signatory countries.

The Washington Accord was first signed in 1989 and recognises that professional engineering education programmes accredited by the signatories deliver outcomes that are substantially equivalent to the Washington Accord Graduate Attributes.

“For now, also being pursued vigorously by COREN is the process of applying for Provisional Signatory Status of the Washington Accord (WA) under the International Engineering Alliance (IEA) seeking mobility for Nigerian engineers such that they can practice in signatory countries.

“In the course of this, COREN team had held series of meetings with Emeritus Prof. Elizabeth Taylor, Washington Accord Executive Committee Chair and her team and the Engineering Council of South Africa, ECSA.

“Equally, COREN has been effectively put on the engineering world map by ensuring its adequate visibility and participation in activities of World Federation of Engineering Organisations (WFEO), such as the World Engineering Summit of March, 2022 at Costa Rica.

“It also participated at the 30th Federation of Engineering Institutions of Asia and the Pacific (FEIAP) General Assembly, the 6th FEIAP Convention of July, 2022, which held in the Philippines and also the 8th Edition of African Engineering Week/6th African Engineering Conference in Ethiopia,” Rabiu noted.

Additionally, COREN stated that in championing mobility of Nigerian engineers

within the African region, it recently hosted delegations from Sierra Leone Institution of Engineers and Ghana Institution of Engineers.

In compliance with the provisions of the Engineers, CAP E11 2004 Act as amended and in line with its commitment to the uplift of COREN as a formidable engineering regulatory organisation in Nigeria, the council stressed that it ensured the deployment of more effective strategies for guaranteeing best practice among the various professionals in engineering through the review of curricula.

The body explained that this is critical as Nigerian engineering programmes are transiting from the traditional input based to outcome-based education, with the aim of raising the competency level of the Nigerian engineering practitioners.

COREN noted that the successful investigation and reprimanding as well as prosecution of erring engineering practitioners as it relates to collapse of buildings and sundry offences associated with the built industry in Nigeria were also embarked upon in the outgoing year.

It highlighted the introduction of the Continuing Professional Development (CPD) points as part requirement for the procurement of practice licence as a quality control mechanism to ensure that only competent practitioners are issued with practice license, with effective implementation date from January, 2023.

“This is in pursuance of the COREN amended Act which has made practice licence compulsory for all engineering practitioners and firms.

“In order to ensure operational excellence in engineering, some critical indigenous engineering regulations, codes and standards have been developed, some of which have been recently gazetted to regulate engineering practice in Nigeria,” it pointed out.

Rabiu stressed that the organisation has

also introduced the COREN Engineering Practitioners’ Code of Conduct, Regulations on Accreditation of Engineering Programmes in Nigeria, Regulations on Structural Engineering Practice in Nigeria as well as the Regulations for Establishment of Engineering Practitioners Examination Committee.

In addition, the COREN president said there are now regulations for marine engineering, naval architecture and marine surveying practice in Nigeria.

He explained that work has commenced on developing National Construction Safety Standards for Nigeria in the area of building/ civil infrastructure, amongst others.

“The establishment of the Engineering Practitioners’ Examination Committee for the immediate implementation of a harmonised professional registration scheme that will be beneficial to all stakeholders in engineering.

“As a result of the incessant incidences of collapse of structures, particularly buildings in various parts of the country, posing serious safety and economic challenges to the populace, COREN called presidents and registrars of some regulatory and professional bodies in the built environment together to a crucial meeting of the professionals in the built environment to proffer sustainable and efficient solutions to the ugly menace,” the statement added.

It also listed the establishment of Engineering Accreditation Committee to among other terms of reference, implement COREN accreditation policy and formulate guidelines and procedures for accreditation and the launch of new engineering programmes as part of the council’s achievements.

“COREN is implementing the Engineering Regulations Monitoring Programme by establishing State Technical Committees and State Expatriate Monitoring Committees in all the States of the Federation. At present, 20 have been inaugurated. The most recent ones were in Abeokuta, Ogun and Lagos States last week respectively,” Rabiu stressed.

Egypt launches new global oil, gas exploration tender

Egypt’s Minister of Petroleum and Mineral Resources, Tarek El-Molla, announced the launch of a new international tender for crude oil and gas exploration in 12 regions in the Mediterranean Sea and the Nile Delta, this is according to state news agency MENA.

Launched by state-owned Egyptian Natural Gas Holding Company (EGAS), the global tender was set for 12 blocks, split evenly between onshore and offshore.

The tender comes in continuation of the petroleum ministry’s strategy, which was launched in 2016 to increase investments in the oil and gas exploration field in promising regions, particularly the Mediterranean Sea.

This strategy offers opportunities to attract new global companies to invest in Egypt and encourages operating firms to expand and increase their investments.

Meeting the need for skills and labour to solve South Africa’s intensifying energy crisis

By Wayne Alcock

“

South Africa’s recent energy crisis escalation into Level 5 and 6 load shedding has highlighted the stark need for businesses, industries and municipalities to generate their own power. Mines were first to establish their own solar plants to secure power supply. Today, municipalities have followed suit with the unveiling plans for initiatives to secure their own supply and to eliminate dependence on the incumbent power producer by creating decentralised power generation. Recent reports noted that eThekwini, South Africa’s third biggest city will issue a request for proposals to construct 400 megawatts of power generation capacity later this year or early in 2023. The experts in alternative energy will need to be called in to handle the planning, development, construction and maintenance of these supply plants. This is good news for South Africans as it will mean a significant increase

Wayne Alcock Managing Director Quyn International

in the need for labour and skills specific to the energy sector, as other industries and municipalities follow suit, working to become more energy self-sufficient.

Desperate times

Eskom is currently responsible for meeting 95% of South Africa’s demand for electricity. In September 2022, Eskom started implementing Stage 6 power cuts which meant businesses and homes were forced to go without electricity for more than 10 hours a day. The company has since reduced the severity of load shedding, vacillating between Stages 2 and 3, depending on the time of day. However, it’s not a simple case of being without power. Rolling blackouts also affect the delivery of other services, including water supply in some areas, resulting in ‘water shedding’. With South Africa’s economy already

Renewable energy is the quickest and most cost-effective way to address the country’s crisis

Outsourcing

struggling to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, South Africa is running out of time to act. Already in 2022, one of Eskom’s coal plants has passed its end-of-life status which means 1,000MW will soon be offline. By 2035, a further nine plants will have reached their end-of-life, which means 19,000MW will go offline and put 55,000 jobs at risk. By 2050, 12 plants will be offline, cutting 33,000MW off the grid.

Desperate measures

Speaking at the 2023 Africa Renewable Energy Investment Summit in late September, chief executive officer Andre de Ruyter outlined Eskom’s proposed solution to South Africa’s energy crisis. The power utility plans to lean heavily into renewable energy and other planned projects. By the end of 2024, de Ruyter said that most of the 33,000MW shortfall will be covered by new projects, including:

• 3,500MW from the Seriti renewables projects

• 1,440MW from Kusile entering full operation

• 2,000MW from Independent Power Producers (IPPs) on leased land

• 3,500MW from new pumped storage

• 1,500MW from municipal procurement

• 2,600MW from Renewable Independent Power Producer Programme (REIPPP) 5 projects

• 5,200MW from REIPPP 6 projects

• 7,000+MW from other projects

Addressing the crisis

Renewable energy is the quickest and most cost-effective way to address the country’s crisis – projects like wind and solar are cheaper to build and can come online in under two years. In contrast, new coal builds are three to four times as expensive and will likely take up to 12 years to complete. This puts us at risk of further load shedding and jeopardises nearly 46% of exports if we fail to decarbonise. Earlier in July 2022, President Ramaphosa announced a number of proposed changes and solutions signalling that the government has begun to break the monopoly of its state-owned utility. The regulatory changes are intended to encourage development and growth of power plants by allowing power plants of any size to be constructed without prior licensing. Previously, projects generating more than 100MW required licensing, while those

generating 100MW or less were only allowed to connect to the grid from 2021. Going forward, Eskom will be allowed to purchase capacity from private suppliers in order to meet shortfalls. Also included in his reforms was an increase to Eskom’s maintenance budget, and an increase in recruitment of skilled workers to meet the country’s growing renewable energy sector.

Collective problem-solving

In the wake of a Solidarity Research Institute (SRI) report revealing that South Africa’s private sector will have to generate almost as much power by 2035 as Eskom is producing today, there has been an urgent call for developers, shopping malls, largescale enterprises, homeowners’ associations, entrepreneurs, farmers and others to submit applications for the generation, distribution and sale of power. All of which is a good indication that there is about to be a huge boom in the renewables sector, which will need to be met with the right skills and supplied with an enormous labour force. Where will these skills and this labour come from? They won’t be easy for independent power producers to source unassisted. Furthermore, the scale of labour required is not something that such entities will be able to handle on their own.

Everyone doing their part

Not only will there be a need for skills and labour to plan, develop and construct the renewable energy production projects, there

will also be a need to run, manage and maintain these plants once commissioned. It will be necessary for organisations seeking to build their own power generation capacity to partner with a Temporary Employment Services (TES) provider in order to meet the human resource requirement of their initiatives. TES providers have an important role to play in addressing South Africa’s energy crisis, as those that are experienced in the construction and renewable energy industry will already have an extensive existing database of the necessary skills and labour. This will significantly shorten the time required to source, relocate and on-board sufficient resources for the required duration. Along with recruitment capabilities and a nationwide footprint, the right TES partner will also manage the human resource aspect of any renewable power project. This means that the organisation running the project (whether developer, mining enterprise, farmer or municipality) can completely outsource this component that includes every aspect of managing a labour force – such as payroll, compliance, training, industrial relations – handing these off with confidence to a capable partner.

Although the future does seem bleak right now, it is important for us to remember that there is always hope. As South Africans, we have always shown a unique ability to problem solve. If every willing industry player, business owner, and household pulls together and contributes to the solution in whichever way they are capable, we can pull South Africa out of the dark times that lie ahead.

Image: Courtesy

Kenya’s ambitious hydrogen deal & plan to help Africa exploit green energy

Approximately Kenya's 30 per cent installed capacity is produced by independent power producers, while 70 per cent is produced by Kenya Electricity Generating Company PLC (KenGen), a 70 per cent state-owned enterprise, according to the Kenya-Electrical Power System report.

By Tony Malesi

Kenya recently inked a deal with an Australian firm to establish a green hydrogen and ammonia plant, kickstarting the country’s plan to utilise green energy across the continent.

The industrial-scale production of green hydrogen and ammonia will be vital in making clean, affordable fuel and fertiliser for Africa. Further, it will help Kenya, which is already leading a geothermal revolution across Africa, increase its footprint in the renewable energy market.

Kenya’s deal with Fortescue Future Industries (FFI), which has an expansive portfolio in green hydrogen and renewable energy projects worldwide, was signed on the sidelines of the 27th Conference of Parties (COP27) to the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change in Egypt.

Kenya plays a leading role in the renewable energy sector, with its geothermal capacity (863 megawatts) ranked top in Africa and seventh globally, according to The International Renewable Energy Agency’s Renewable Capacity Statistics 2022 report.

Kenya President William Ruto signed the deal with the FFI Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest. The company will set up an initial 300 MW green hydrogen and ammonia plant in the next three years, which will also produce fertiliser. The project will be expanded in the future, with a target of adding 25 MW.

Ruto said: "There is nowhere more crucial

for us to mark the public beginning of this relationship than here at COP27 in Sharm El-Sheikh, where we want to see actions not words. Kenya is a leader of renewable energy in Africa and we look forward to the partnership with FFI to accelerate the worldwide energy transition for the benefit of the continent."

The multiplier effect of the hydrogen deal will include job creation and boost food security through its fertiliser production, said Forrest. He emphasised FFI’s commitment to helping Africa reduce reliance on fossil fuels.

The latest move has an estimated yearly output of 1.7 million tonnes for export. This will help Kenya join other continental early adaptors like Nigeria and South Africa to build Africa’s hydrogen and ammonia capacity. United Nations Secretary-General Antonio Guterres appealed to countries at the ongoing COP27 to transition to green energy quickly.

A considerable growth is expected in the global ammonia capacity in the next five years, with a possible increase to 284.21 million tonnes per annum (Mtpa) in 2025 from 230.88 Mtpa in 2020, according to the latest report by GlobalData Plc, a British management consulting company.

The FFI deal comes after yet another green hydrogen partnership with the United Kingdom, targeting to produce 30GW. These deals are part of a broader strategy by Kenya to help Africa transition towards green energy.

Slightly over 70 per cent of Kenya’s electricity is produced from clean / renewable energy sources, according to the report. Of all these sources, geothermal ranks first, even as the country plans to wean itself off thermal sources.

Kenya has significant renewable energy potential due to the country’s strong solar output, strong coastal breezes and favorable geology in many other locations. The $690 million Lake Turkana Wind Power plant (310 MW), for instance, is poised to be the largest wind plant across the continent once completed, the report added.

Kenya’s geothermal leadership is already being felt across the continent, with KenGen aiding various African countries to use green energy.

KenGen, which has a market share of over 60 per cent in East and Central Africa, has also recently won multi-million dollars in tenders to drill hundreds of geothermal wells in Rwanda, Ethiopia and Djibouti, among others.

“We desire that in the next couple of years, we shall have a considerable presence across the continent,” said KenGen in a press statement earlier in the year.

President Ruto requested developed nations at COP27 to invest in Africa to save the globe from the adverse effects of climate change, citing numerous opportunities.

“There are opportunities to produce 20GW of wind power and 10GW of geothermal electricity,” he said.

There is sufficient hydro-electric potential in East Africa to generate 100,000 MW, the President said. If properly exploited, this can generate enough clean energy for Africa and export, he told the delegates.

Image: (L-R) Kenya President William Ruto, FFI CEO Mark Hutchinson, Kenya Foreign Affairs Minister Alfred Mutua and FFI Executive Chairman Andrew Forrest display copies of the Framework Agreement at COP27 in Egypt. Photo: Presidential Communication Service

Distributed Power Africa secures Ksh 332M to expand solar energy solutions

By Ronald Owili

Distributed Power Africa (DPA) Kenya is set to extend deployment of solar energy solutions to commercial and industrial customers in Kenya after securing Ksh 332 million funding from Mirova SunFunder.

DPA Chief Executive Officer Norman Moyo said the funding will also help the renewable energy distributor deploy additional solar sites in Kenya.

"We are excited to partner with Mirova SunFunder in scaling up renewable energy access for the commercial and industrial sector in Kenya. We believe energy is a key pillar in supporting Africa’s economic development and digital transformation. With this investment, we expect to see increased uptake of renewable energy by enterprises in Kenya,” said Moyo.

Impact investor, Mirova SunFunder which helps in solving energy access and climate change challenges in frontier markets in Africa through clean energy financing said the funding marked another

milestone in expanding the provision of funding in the Kenyan market through their Solar Energy Transformation (SET) Fund, which has been fully deployed.

Mirova SunFunder Co-founder and Chief Operations Officer Audrey Desiderato further said the firm is further working on a new Ksh 60 billion ($500 million) fund dubbed the Gigaton Fund.

"Mirova SunFunder's local presence and financial expertise combined with the extensive customer pipeline of a leading pan-African company like DPA, will accelerate the scaling of cost-effective solar energy solutions to businesses in Kenya,” said Desiderato.

DPA currently develops and operates renewable energy projects across Africa with a key focus on Kenya, South Africa, and Zimbabwe.

The firm also provides renewable energy solutions to data centres, telecom switching centres, telecom towers, manufacturing plants, hospitals, and other large industrial users.

Image: Courtesy

Kenyan firms to wait longer for renewal of mining permits

Kenya’s mining portfolio may lie dormant from next month as firms wait to renew licences, seven years after former Mining Cabinet Secretary Najib Balala revoked some permits.

The Kenyan government is yet to start licensing new companies, forcing them to only operate under a limited window of a gazette notice. In 2015, Balala revoked 65 mining licences through a gazette notice.

Industry players have been using licences issued prior to the freeze to enable the state to audit the licences. Simon Wall, the general manager for external affairs at Base Titanium said they were waiting for a word from the government, saying lack of licences had restricted expansion plans.

“We have multiple prospecting licences in

the system. We are keen on dialogue with the government to see the moratorium lifted… you can only mine what you know exists,” Mr Wall said during the release of the company’s sustainability report (2022).

He said the company remains keen on expansion, including away from its current Kwale base to prospecting in areas along the Lamu-Tana River counties border.

Kenyan Mining and Blue Economy Cabinet Secretary Salim Mvurya said the government will conduct a geo-survey first, to ascertain the kind and availability of minerals within the country before issuing licensing.

“The data gathered from the survey will enable the government to make conclusive decisions on the viability of the minerals to protect Kenyan resources,” said Mvurya this week.

Former president Uhuru Kenyatta had in June launched the final report of the nationwide airborne geophysical survey done earlier. But the new CS says it was not done conclusively.

Under a multi-agency project, the Joint National and Resource Mapping (JNAM) released a current geospatial data covering the entire country.

The eight projects developed under JNAM mapped out schools, road reserves, forest cover and encroached areas.

The project also developed a current cadaster for Nairobi County identifying its public land parcels, green spaces, health facilities, schools, roads and road reserves.

A titanium mining field in Kwale County, Kenya. Credit: NMG

Natural resource extraction in Ghana needs tighter regulations, finds survey

By Kiran Pandey

Ghana’s natural resources need to be better regulated to reduce environmental damage, a recent survey has found. Local communities are also deprived of their fair share of benefits of natural resource extraction.

Over 60 per cent of Ghanaians believe mining, oil drilling and wood harvesting negatively impact the environment, a survey released November 8, 2022, by research network Afrobarometer found.

The results were based on interviews by non-profit research and advocacy institute Ghana Center for Democratic Development on behalf of Afrobarometer. The research network provides data on African experiences and evaluations of democracy, governance and quality of life.

The government needs to tighten regulation of natural resource extraction, over 85 per

cent of the survey participants said.

The Ghanaians were evenly split in their views on whether locals get a fair share of benefits of natural resource extraction near their communities. Half the participants said local communities are also deprived of their fair share of benefits of natural resource extraction.

Natural resources such as gold and oil, among others, have helped transform Ghana’s economic growth, according to World Bank. But despite this, citizen’s participation in extraction governance is limited, showed the survey by Afrobarometer.

About 40 per cent of participants felt that the benefits natural resource extraction outweighed the negative impacts.

New research published in the journal Resources Policy, titled “Artisanal and small-scale mining formalization challenges in Ghana: explaining grassroots perspectives,” supported the Afrobarometer survey findings.

About 85 per cent of artisanal and small-scale mining operators or the poor communities engaged in artisanal gold mining have no say in decision making, according to the research.

These poor people are termed “galamseyers” and are considered a “menace” to society by the government and often excluded from the decision-making process.

Ghana is a signatory to the international protocol on Free, Prior and Informed Consent of Indigenous Peoples. The local people need to agree to any extraction in their jurisdiction, as per the protocol.

Mining operations in Tarkwa, Ghana. Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Wastewater Treatment in Africa

Challenges and possible solutions for wastewater treatment in Africa

By Dorcas Kang'ereha

Wastewater treatment is a process used to remove contaminants from wastewater and convert it into an effluent that can be returned to the water cycle with minimum environmental issues or that can be reused. The World Health Organization (WHO) defines sanitation as “the provision of facilities and services for the safe management of human excreta from the toilet to containment and storage and treatment on-site or conveyance, treatment and eventual safe end use or disposal.” Used water from toilets, showers, baths, kitchen sinks, laundries and industrial processes are examples of wastewater.

Global water demand is expected to increase significantly in the next few decades. Agriculture is responsible for 70% of total freshwater consumption worldwide (90% in the least developed countries), while energy and industry are responsible for 20%. The remaining 10% is used for drinking water, sanitation, hygiene, and other domestic purposes, this is according to Sustainability 2021 report.

The report further reveals that, wastewater is a crucial component of water resource management and neglecting wastewater issues generates significant negative impacts on the environment, the occurrence

of waterborne diseases due to the use of contaminated water sources, and the wellbeing of communities. Underestimating the impacts related to wastewater means seriously compromising the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) of the 2030 Agenda which targets to improve water quality by reducing pollution, eliminating dumping, and minimizing release of hazardous chemicals and materials, halving the proportion of untreated wastewater and substantially increasing recycling and safe reuse globally.” The achievement of this target is critical for achieving the entire 2030 Agenda and, in particular, for SDGs concerning health, education, cities, and industry.

Image: WEC Projects Model R, Packaged Wastewater treatment plant

A joint report by the African Development Bank, the United Nations Environment Programme, and GRID-Arendal reveals that, while significant efforts are being made across Africa to ensure better access and services, many places still have inadequate infrastructure for sanitation and wastewater management. This is happening at a time of greater need due to population growth, rapid urbanization, improving lifestyles, and industrial and agricultural expansion – all in a region that has low resilience to climate change.

Challenges facing wastewater treatment industry facilities

Poor waste management

According to Eng. Reuben Juma Onunga, Deputy Team Leader COWI A/S, there is a great challenge with the quality of effluent received at wastewater treatment systems. Poor drainage and poor solid waste management in towns and cities lead to an overload of wastewater management facilities. Poor drainage infrastructure means sewers that are designed to operate as separate systems with carrying capacity designed for wastewater get overloaded as they are temporarily turned into combined systems carrying wastewater and stormwater. More stormwaters also arrive at the wastewater treatment facility. On the other hand, poor solid waste management means excessive solids are washed into the sewerage infrastructure leading to blockages. Also, a solid waste handling burden is created

at the wastewater treatment plant. Excessive solids floating on ponds reduce the efficiency of waste stabilization ponds. Proper urban planning with an integrated approach to the management of drainage, solid waste and wastewater, and faecal sludge, should be adopted. Implementation of prepared master plans is also critical.

Lack of knowledge

“Most people don’t know that such technology exists, is one of the biggest challenges. They don’t believe that wastewater can be purified and reused. There is also the challenge that people mistake the technology for biodigesters which has not had the best results in solving waste water management issues,” says Emmanuel Kariuki Engineering Director Sewertech Kenya Ltd.

Ignorance

“The wastewater management sector in Kenya has lagged. Focus has been on the water supply sector. Water attracts more investments than wastewater. The neglect of investment in wastewater has led to pollution of the environment. It is now that investment in wastewater is picking up. Revenue from wastewater is factored in as a percentage of the water supply revenue and is usually recovered by adding it as a percentage to the water bills,” observed Eng. Onunga. “The recent investment in wastewater has focused on trunk mains. The laterals that connect the consumers to the trunk sewers had been ignored. It is now that the financiers are emphasizing last-mile connectivity to ensure the trunk mains and treatment infrastructure are not underutilized as before. In addition to attracting funding for wastewater infrastructure, it is important to ring-fence revenue from wastewater for reinvestment. Implementation of waste-toenergy approaches may also create additional commercial resources which make waste management profitable.” He adds.

Poor operation and maintenance

Rick from SBEF debates on Poor operation and maintenance. “No matter how perfect or complex the wastewater treatment is designed by the manufacturer, the system will eventually be handed over to the customers for operation. The people who take over the operation often have no way to run the system in a state of high efficiency.

For example, operators think that the more certain chemicals such as nutrient salts or coagulants are added, the better it is but to be honest, it is a waste of money or they think that the higher control of a certain parameter like dissolved oxygen, the better it is, and the same conclusion is waste a lot of power,” he reasons.

Compliance

“The other concern regarding the quality of waste arriving at wastewater management is the concentration of the influent. Poor monitoring of industrial waste discharge to the sewer system leads to the illegal discharge of industrial effluent into municipal wastewater treatment systems. Though the industries are mandated by law to pre-treat their wastewater or effluents to the standards that are fit for discharge to the sewer system or receiving water bodies, most of them don’t comply,” says concerned Eng. Onunga. “Measures such as the “polluter pay principle” have been considered to hold the polluting industries to account, but enforcement is weak. Most industries only comply when they hear the enforcement officers are visiting and it is not possible to tell what happens when the officers leave. The samples delivered by the industries to test laboratories for monitoring compliance are usually an improved version that does not reflect the daily performance of their treatment systems. The corruption of monitoring officers also contributes to false positive reporting in favour of the polluting industries, allowing them to go scot-free. The main reason why industries struggle with compliance is usually the high cost of industrial waste treatment both in capital and operation and maintenance costs. Continued surveys and sampling for industrial waste and guidance

-

The relevant professional institutions should open a discussion on these concerns and present possible solutions to the relevant regulatory bodies and the ministry concerned

- Eng. Reuben Juma Onunga -

Emphasizing on wastewater education would really boost the industry and expedite the current challenges

- Emmanuel Kariuki

“

on economical treatment methods may be a solution. Industrialists should also be brought on board as important stakeholders in the wastewater management sector. Regulating institutions should deploy persons with integrity to the field,” he upholds.

Lack of competent resources and budget constraints

Karl Juncker, Director (Pr. Eng) at Wecprojects pinpoints on three major issues facing the

wastewater industry, but are not limited to:

a. Lack of competent resources (technical and administrative) in the WSA’s and municipalities to manage, maintain and operate the works.

b. Restrictive and slow procurement processes and an inefficient approach to resolving the challenge.

c. Budget constraints and the inability to effectively apply for and process budget through (an ineffective) supply chain.

“There is not enough budget for the project from client side. This issue is more likely to occur in small factories. Basically, we need to allocate more budget when we use more land and equipment but its the engineering cost that is not directly proportional to the amount of water it treats. The most basic wastewater system is not cheap and it is not easy for small factories to afford. Compare to the big factories, and according to the wastewater characteristics, maybe they can just use the basic system to deal with which is a small expense for them,” Adds Rick.

Poor planning

“Faecal sludge management is another area of concern. In the sanitation service chain, proper containment, emptying, transportation, treatment, and disposal of treatment byproducts is critical. Some waste finds itself in the environment due to poor containment infrastructures such as unlined pit latrines, unprofessional emptiers that discharge waste into the environment like in drains and on abandoned fields along the road to treatment sites, poor treatment due to inefficient faecal sludge treatment plants, and illegal disposal of treatment by-products. It is recommended to carry out socio-economic studies that provide adequate data to assist in the mapping and effective planning of the management of faecal sludge. A shit-flow diagram is a good tool for understanding the sanitation service chain. It provides the percentage of properly managed waste and poorly managed waste. This information is important for planning the reduction of open defecation and eventual phasing out of onsite sanitation methods such as unlined pit latrines, lined pit latrines, VIP toilets, and septic and conservancy tanks, as towns and cities transition their waste management approaches from onsite to water-borne. The private faecal sludge operators should also be well-trained and monitored. Separate wastewater treatment and faecal sludge treatment are also important to avoid shock loads on municipal treatment plants. Decentralized wastewater treatment systems (DEWATS) are also needed to capture waste where it is produced rather than focusing on centralized wastewater treatment. With DEWATS, wastewater treatment by-products may be used at the generation catchments, compared to by-products from centralized wastewater treatment systems which are usually in the outskirts of the towns and difficult to transport back for use in the catchments,” says Eng. Onunga.

Addressing the wastewater treatment challenges

Proper infrastructure and equipment

Management of wastewater is challenging. The requirement for the management of dirty water is higher than that of clean water. Special pumps are required to pump wastewater and sludge. Breakdown of electromechanical equipment is a common

Image: Sewertech Kenya Ltd

A serious re-look at the way the treatment industry is being run and change of policy and strategy in order to rectify

- Karl Juncker -

“

occurrence. When pretreatment equipment fails, flooding results. Also, solids that escape the screens due to flooding find their way into the downstream wastewater treatment systems. These create a huge burden for cleanup, especially in waste stabilization ponds. The solids may also damage electromechanical equipment like pumps. When pumps fail, and there is no sufficient redundancy, flooding of the environment may occur. Pump and pretreatment equipment breakdown, in institutions without good emergency response may lead to long downtime during which the critical pretreatment processes are bypassed. The downstream treatment systems are in turn overloaded. The construction of holding ponds and raised treatment platforms and even cut-off drains may curb flooding. During design, proper provision for redundancy for equipment, a clear operation, and maintenance regime, and availability of spare parts and other resources are important considerations; this is according to Eng. Onunga.

Effective policies and strategies

On the other hand Eng. Junker believes in a serious re-look at the way the treatment industry is being run and change of policy and strategy in order to rectify. “The DWS is already looking into partnerships with private entities to assist – this is most likely the very best move they can do and I promote that it happens quickly and effectively,” he extols.

Education

Championing the wastewater industry, Eng. Kariuki is certain that emphasizing on wastewater education would really boost the industry and expedite the current challenges. “People need to be educated more and shown the results of wastewater treatment. They should also be educated on better ways to handle their wastewater,” he emphasized.

Consulting the experts

Finding a suitable consulting engineering company is one of the most important and critical step before implementing a wastewater treatment system project, this is according to Rick. “I think it is important to consult a suitable engineering company

before implementing a wastewater treatment system project. The reference condition is the firm has performed in the same industry of wastewater before. Due to characteristics of wastewater discharged from various industries are different, the design of systems will also be very different. If the industrial wastewater has high COD and requires biological treatment, I recommend using MBBR (Moving Bed Biofilm Reactor technology) because MBBR saves more than 60% of the area and compares to the activated sludge way, it is easier to maintenance and operate,” he commends.

“In our experience, our customers who use MBBR don`t need to hire professional operators. They just need to let the existing employees establish a simple education or SOP then can run MBBR well. This system is also suitable for small and medium-size factories but not all of industries are suitable for MBBR technology such as electroplating wastewater industry because you may need chemical coagulation to remove heavy metals in wastewater instead of using biological treatment technology. Finally, as for how to deal with your wastewater, let`s back to what I said in the beginning: find a professional wastewater engineering company to help you,” he highlights.

Proper legislation from the relevant authorities

“From the policy point of view, it is important to update all designs and practice manuals. This includes adapting them properly to the local needs and current trends in waste management. Various institutions that are charged with the responsibility of setting up environmental management standards should work together. In Kenya, the Water Resources Authority (WRA), National Environmental Management Authority (NEMA), and Ministry of Water, Sanitation, and Irrigation (MWS&I) all have standards regarding the quality of discharges to the environment. Some of the parameters have been found to be in conflict, making it difficult for designers to decide what requirements to adopt in design,” remarks Eng. Onunga. “A particular standard in one of the guidelines, dealing with the requirement for faecal coliform, seems to be very strict having been set at “nil”. This is more strict than similar applications in

“

- Rick -

the region. Such unrealistic standards make wastewater management infrastructure unnecessarily expensive. The relevant professional institutions should open a discussion on these concerns and present possible solutions to the relevant regulatory bodies and the ministry concerned so that such inconsistencies are harmonized and accurately legislated,” he concludes.

Wastewater Treatment Consulting is a great help in achieving your wastewater treatment goals and solutions. These professionals have specialized knowledge in the field of wastewater treatment, and can help you make informed decisions that will help protect the environment. Major wastewater consulting firms have experts in wastewater treatment and can provide a wide range of services. They should be able to provide you with an analysis and design that fits your business needs.

Additionally, they should have the necessary infrastructure and resources to assist you. They should also offer expert witness engagements and specialized business services. This type of consulting also offers a variety of other environmental services, such as hazardous waste management and pollution prevention planning. These services are helpful to municipal and state government agencies, as well as businesses. Professional wastewater consultants can also help in obtaining the necessary permits required for any discharge of wastewater and optimize your wastewater treatment processes. Contact Wastewater Treatment Consulting experts today and make your operation safer, compliant and more efficient.

It is important to consult a suitable engineering company before implementing a wastewater treatment system project

How engineers can design the next 100 years with digital twins

By Bonga Ntuli

Imagine being alive 100 years ago, when fridges, microwaves, and hairdryers didn’t exist. You’d get around by horse and cart, so you couldn’t travel very far very fast. And if you had an infection, your doctor would likely prescribe blood-sucking leeches since Penicillin had not yet been discovered.

Much like we can’t imagine what life was like 100 years ago, no one knows what the world will look like in 2122. Will there be flying autonomous cars? Undersea megacities? Will we get around by teleporting? Who knows.

The difference between then and now is that we have Digital Twin technology that allows us to play and experiment with different scenarios and outcomes.

With great power comes great responsibility

As engineers, we like to think big, like smart cities, affordable, safe, and dependable public transportation networks, and sustainable and resilient water systems that help society to deal with floods and drought while ensuring everyone has clean water to drink. We enjoy looking beyond the present to the possibilities of the future.

Every five or ten years, I look back on my career and think, ‘how did we do our job before?’ Similarly, engineers 50 years ago, 30 years ago, and even ten years ago didn’t envisage that we’d have technology that would give us superpowers to time travel to the future to design the best outcomes for society.

It’s easy to get carried away by what’s possible. And, while we should

think big about what is possible for Southern Africa, there are a lot of little things we need to get right before we start talking about things like flying cars.

We need to “futureproof the fundamentals”—our water and energy infrastructure, road networks, and data-gathering and analysing capabilities. And we can do this by laying the foundation for a Digital Twin of our infrastructure.

Measure twice, cut once with a Digital Twin

A Digital Twin is a virtual world that matches the real world in its complexity, scale, and accuracy. It’s an exact digital re-creation of an object or environment, like a road network or underground water infrastructure— and there are so many things you can do in it.

If you’ve ever played The Sims, you’ve experimented with simulation technology. Your avatar self can do anything, be anything without consequences or reward in the real world. But what if you could make those simulations come true? You’d have a superpower.

With Digital Twin technology, governments can build a model of cities and monitor the data pulsing through them to get real-time insights into the state of infrastructure. This data forms the foundation of the Digital Twin. And the more data points we have, the more solutions we can experiment with until we find the one with the biggest social, economic, and environmental impact.

The ‘measure twice, cut once’ proverb in carpentry teaches that measurements should be double-checked to ensure accuracy before

Image Courtessy

cutting the wood. That is, before taking any action, we must carefully plan so that we do not waste time, energy, or resources correcting mistakes.

With a Digital Twin, city planners can see what would happen if they modified a city’s layout, planned a road, or changed the traffic systems. They can compute not just one possible future but many possible futures.

And if it doesn’t work in the Digital Twin, it won’t work in the real world. Testing it out first means we prevent bad decisions. And the more ‘what-if’ situations we test, the more creative and effective the solution will be.

Here’s an example:

How do you cater for more cars? Do you build more roads? Possibly. But what if there’s no budget or space for more roads? Could you optimise traffic flow in real-time to keep vehicles moving, avoid bottlenecks, and reduce emissions? You could, with a Digital Twin.

Or take water as another example. Many municipalities don’t know where their pipelines are or the state they’re in because records have been lost.

But we can fix this problem quickly by sending sensors into the water pipe network to determine a pipe’s location, size, and capacity. We can then use that information to build an accurate digital map of the existing system. This would enable us to predict and manage demand and pressure, implement just-in-time maintenance, and avoid outages caused by burst pipes.

Our best starting point is to reverse-engineer and fix our existing infrastructure. We must take better care of it to increase its lifespan and buy time to build new infrastructure. As my colleague always says, it’s cheaper to maintain infrastructure than it is to fix it, and it’s cheaper to fix infrastructure than to replace it.

With load shedding at all-time highs and more water shedding on the cards, there’s a sense of urgency to get it right the first time. We can’t afford to get it wrong.

But the gap between where we are today and where we’d like to be is massive.

Back to basics

We need to start thinking—and preparing—for the future. But we can’t do that until we get the fundamentals right. We need to put time and effort into the groundwork today so that we can build infrastructure that’s capable of serving the needs of future generations.

It starts with collecting, sharing, and using data appropriately. It will require coordinated collaboration between multiple stakeholders, including the public and private sectors and affected communities, to co-create solutions.

Most importantly, we need a strategy to create Digital Twins. With an immutable overview of all work done on our infrastructure, we can start to build institutional memory and promote trust and transparency. We’d also eliminate wasteful expenditure, compound the return on investment, and ensure sustainable outcomes for today and the next 100 years.

The work involved in building Digital Twins would also create jobs—not just for computer programmers and data analysts but for entry-level workers too. Together, we could make our cities more sustainable, efficient, and liveable for everyone.

It’s true that we can’t manage what we don’t know, but we can start with what we do know, and we can gather more data as we go because the more data we have, the more digital twins we can build, the more people will understand their value. It will spark a movement, and we cannot yet understand how fast that’s going to go.

Bonga Ntuli: Director, Strategy at Royal HaskoningDHV

Exyn Technologies Secures $35M Series B Funding

Exyn Technologies, a pioneer in multiplatform robotic autonomy for complex, GPS-denied environments, announced today a $35 million Series B round. The investment came from previous investors as well as new investors including Reliance Industries. Exyn will utilize this investment to break into the Indian market and further expand their global footprint into Latin America, Australia, and Africa and bring exposure into their future business verticals.

“With our mission of decreasing the amount of injuries and fatalities in ‘physical’ industries gathering data in dangerous environments, having this investment will accelerate Exyn’s impact and growth. With this new capital, we will further expand our worldwide footprint to dramatically improve safety for those working in dangerous environments around

the world and keeping them out of harm’s way,” commented Nader Elm, CEO of Exyn Technologies.

ExynPak_Tablet_constructionExyn is a pioneer in the field of AI technology and has commercialized the highest level of aerial drone autonomy in the world with their multi-award-winning Autonomy Level 4 (AL4). Exyn’s robots are able to autonomously navigate in previously inaccessible environments without a prior map, existing infrastructure (GPS, communications, etc.), or an operator in the loop. Subsequently, Exyn has established itself in a dominant position in the mining vertical with this technology and expanded into construction, warehouse, and government use cases including search & rescue and reconnaissance.

“AL4, the highest level of aerial autonomy in the market, has been a key differentiator in the mining industry,” said Elm. “The application of our fully autonomous robots is expansive and with this investment and partnership we look forward to transforming dangerous, physical data collection into a safer and more efficient workflow that can unlock further operational effectiveness and efficiency for our customers.”

Exyn was recognized by the Inc 5000 awards as #177 among America’s fastest growing companies. The company has also been awarded 1st place at the AUVSI Xcellence Awards.

Hero-BackPak-sureveyteam. Image: Exyn Technologies

Dronedek Looks to the Future of Delivery and Sees Autonomy

The future of package delivery will be autonomous and tech-driven and consumers should start preparing now to reap its benefits, predicts Dronedek Founder and Chief Executive Officer Dan O’Toole.

“We have reached a place where consumers want things delivered better, faster, fresher and cheaper,” says O’Toole. “Getting the most for the least is what it’s all about. Paying less, not having to leave, having the quality and freshness, right now, is where we want to be.”

Meeting this consumer demand will speed autonomous delivery, he said, adding that he is optimistic consumers will quickly adapt to the new opportunities.

“Consumers are often skeptical of new technology, and autonomous delivery is no different, but had consumers not already been ready to adapt in earlier times, we’d still be delivering packages by horse and buggy,” he said.

“We have reached a place where consumers want things delivered better, faster, fresher and cheaper,” says O’Toole.

O’Toole plans to have Dronedek mailboxes of the future available for subscription service in the first quarter of 2023. Dronedek mailboxes are secure devices that can accept deliveries of every kind – human, robotic or drone. Top 4 benefits of autonomous delivery:

1. No more worry about package theft, damage or inaccurate delivery: Dronedek smart mailboxes provide a climate-controlled, secure receptacle to store deliveries until consumer retrieve them whether they’re delivered by drone, robot or human. They’re controlled by app so sensitive

deliveries can be safely shipped and stored.

2. No noise or privacy issues: Most consumer concerns about autonomous delivery have already been addressed.

Dronedek is working with partners to reduce drone noise, and laws already exist to address privacy and safety.

3. Safety will increase: Autonomous delivery will improve safety around the country. Both aerial drones and unmanned autonomous vehicles have significant operational time under their belts and have proven safer than manned operations in the same scenarios.

4. A cleaner environment: Autonomous delivery is better for the environment. For every 1 percent of shipped items being delivered autonomously to a Dronedek in the US, 3,000 fossil fuel burning trucks will no longer be needed. The positive ripple effect of which means fewer greenhouse gases, road repair, lower fuel costs, fewer accidents, fewer injuries, fewer deaths and lower insurance costs.

“I am so optimistic about the future,” adds O’Toole. ” Better, faster, fresher, cheaper are all metrics that deliver on the promise of autonomy.”

Dronedek’s mailbox of the future. Image: Dronedek

Dan O’Toole, Dronedek Founder and Chief Executive Officer. Image: Dronedek

Fugro launches state-of-the art geotechnical vessel for safe and sustainable offshore operations

Fugro Quest, a state-of-the-art vessel equipped with advanced deep-water technology, is the newest addition to Fugro’s geotechnical vessel fleet.

400kHz RESON T50 multibeam and did not only reveal individual munitions items, but also numerous, at first glance, piles of unidentifiable objects. Owing to high beam density (600 beams/120° swath) and small footprints (0.5x1°), even sedimentary features, such as scours around possible targets could be observed. Based on this data, a contact list was created and once again the AUVs were deployed for mapping. After the trip, detailed processing and interpretation of the data revealed that the Pelzerhaken area alone contains at least 1691 individual munitions objects and 127 piles of munitions. The different distribution patterns originate from two very different methods of dumping. One way was to throw the munitions overboard, which led to individual objects sometimes forming lines or other patterns, which now allow the course of a dumping vessel to be retraced. The other method of dumping was to fill barges with munitions and open them once a dedicated site had been reached. This resulted in chaotic piles of both larger objects and boxes containing smaller items. Figure 5 shows both types of patterns in the Pelzerhaken area.

wreck search in an unMapped area

Fugro uses this type of vessel to determine the exact composition of the soil; the resulting data are essential to establish the optimal location and design of offshore developments, such as wind farms. The vessel provides increased personnel and operational safety, whilst its energy efficient design results, on average, in significantly lower fuel consumption than for other geotechnical vessels. Moreover, its ability to take hydrotreated vegetable oil (HVO) biofuel and remote operations and data processing capabilities support sustainable operations.

To make best use of the time, multibeam mapping was always conducted at night time. Once the areas in Lübeck Bay had been fully mapped, the researchers spontaneously decided to visit yet another site that is located 6nm to the east. Historic research indicates that the area called Großklützhöved was used to scuttle entire barges that were loaded with munitions. The prospect of investigating a munitions-filled wreck was exciting to everyone on board and when the first wreck was visible in the data, the entire group quickly gathered around the multibeam station. During the course of the night, two additional wrecks (one of which appeared to be a sailing boat) were found. The next day, the two sunken barges were explored using towed TV-CTD with real-time video stream. One of them capsized and lost its hazardous cargo during sinking. In the darkness of the Baltic Sea, a pile of grenade cartridges came into view of the TV-CTD LED spots. The photo and video footage combined with high resolution MBES led to a more qualified estimate of the amount of dumped munitions. For the planning of future

Officer, performed the naming ceremony ahead of the vessel’s maiden voyage. The vessel will commence operations in December for Vattenfall's offshore wind farm near Norfolk in the United Kingdom.

UXO remediation, it was essential to gain precise knowledge about the number, location and types of munitions.

During MineMoni-II, there was not enough time to map the entire area of Großklützhöved, so the researchers decided that they would come back in 2021 to finish the job. When ALKOR returned to Kiel harbour, the team were able to look back at two very successful weeks. More than 26km² had been mapped to acquire high-resolution multibeam data. Water samples were taken at 77 locations, which means that over 200 syringes with exchanger resin are stored in the freezer, waiting to be analysed with liquid chromatographymass spectrometry. The AUVs ANTON and LUISE went on 36 missions to acquire tens of thousands of photographs and finally, 32 TV-CTD profiles were filmed. It will take the researchers a year to evaluate this massive amount of data. By then, they will be ready to embark on MineMoni-III, which is planned for October 2021.

Fugro Quest ’s capabilities include the acquisition of high-quality geotechnical data from 2,000 metres below sea level. The vessel is equipped with cuttingedge systems and advanced deep-water technology such as WISON® Mk V Ecodrive, SEACALF® Mk V Deep Drive® as well as dedicated coring systems and onboard soil-testing laboratory facilities. Its remote positioning and fast data-processing capabilities enable clients to access acquired project data in near real time from the cloud.

Koenen, Fugro’s Service Line

Director for Geotechnics in Europe and Africa said: “Today’s launch is fully aligned with our path to net zero operations by 2035. Fugro Quest consumes less fuel than other large geotechnical vessels. It is hybrid ready, comes with automatic handling of tubulars and geotechnical tools and has the latest IT capabilities onboard to safely carry out operations across the globe. Bookings until July 2023 are already in place, and we’re excited to show how our new vessel can enhance the execution of our projects.”

Disclaimer: With the contribution of the European Maritime and Fisheries Fund of the European Union (Grant Agreement No: 863702 (BASTA); 863693 (ExPloTect)

Barbara Geelen, Fugro’s Chief Financial

Dennis

Fugro Quest|image Fugro

Offshore Namibia partners set to resume drilling on Venus oil discovery

Ocean Infinity Expands Robotic Fleet with Six Additional AUVs

Africa Oil expects the TotalEnergies-led partnership in Block 2913B offshore Namibia to start appraisal drilling early next year on the deepwater Venus light oil and associated gas discovery.

NOAA Unveils 2022 Hydrographic Survey Season Plans

latest order from Ocean Infinity takes their fleet of HUGIN AUVs to more than 20.

Various wells and production flow tests should allow the partners to address uncertainties concerning reservoir distribution and dynamic behavior. Africa Oil has an indirect interest via its 30.8% shareholding in one of the partners, Impact.

Kongsberg Maritime has announced that Ocean Infinity has signed an order for six HUGIN Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUVs) rated to 3,000 metres depth. The vehicles are equipped with a geophysical sensor suite and the latest-generation Kongsberg batteries. The new vehicles will be mobilized for global operations, enabled by Ocean Infinity’s remote operations infrastructure. The vehicles will integrate as part of the Armada fleet of uncrewed and optionally-crewed vessels and will augment the company’s existing AUVs, rated to 6,000 metres depth.

The company also has a 20% operated interest in Block 3B/4B offshore South Africa, on trend with Venus and the Shell-operated Graff oil discovery, both in the Orange Basin.

NOAA hydrographic survey ships and contractors are preparing for the 2022 hydrographic survey season in U.S. coastal waters and beyond. The ships collect bathymetric data (i.e. map the seafloor) to support nautical charting, modelling and research,

Last month the partners secured approval to extend the license by a further two years, with studies continuing on maturing drilling prospects.

Offshore Nigeria, Africa Oil has an interest (via local company Prime) in the Egina oil field. With production falling due to reservoir decline, certain wells will be shut in for planned interventions.

Dan Hook, CTO of Ocean Infinity, said: “Lessening the environmental impact of operations at sea is core to our business, and with an expanded fleet of robotics we’ll have greater capacity to offer sustainable offshore data acquisition services. Using these AUVs as part of our robotic fleet, we’ll be supporting the growing renewables sector with remote data and inspection services.”

An infill drilling program has been pushed back to 2023, due to late arrival of the rig; the partners had planned to drill up to six development wells.

NOAA considers hydrographic survey requests from stakeholders such as marine pilots, local port authorities, the U.S. Coast Guard and the boating community, and also considers other hydrographic and NOAA science priorities in determining where to survey and when. It is worth visiting NOAA’s ‘living’ story map to find out more about the mapping projects and whether a hydrographic vessel will be in your area this year.

Prime and its upstream partners are working on conversion to Nigeria’s new Petroleum Industry Act terms and renewal of the OML 127 and OML 130 licenses. This could facilitate a final investment decision on the development of the Preowei oil discovery via a subsea tieback to the Egina FPSO to the south.

The map, taken from Africa Oil's second-quarter 2022 results report, illustrates the company's OML 130 investment outlook for the next 12 months. |Image courtesy

Hydro

but also collect other environmental data to support

OMT architects

At OMT architects they aim to contribute through their projects and visions to a sustainable future. They value local traditions and support empowerment of existing communities. Through connecting with these communities and in combination with their research into local and sustainable construction methods and resources they develop innovative

design solutions. The implementation of sustainable materials, such as timber, is combined with flexible spatial layouts to support long living and adaptable buildings. OMT architects are located in Berlin. The firm was founded by Leander Moons, previously at home in EastAfrica and now based in New York, and Andreas Trampe-Kieslich.

In the heart of Fumba Town, a remarkable and distinctive new timber tower is designed by Birk Heilmeyer and Frenzel Architects and OMT architects.

OMT architects are committed to designing and delivering sustainable building solutions especially in the place where this matters most; Africa! Africa Surveyors conducted an interview with Leander Moons, co-founder of the OMT architects, and here is their unique story.

AS: When was OMT architects founded and what inspired you to form the firm?

LM: During the 3 years I lived in Nairobi I first got into contact with the project Fumba Town in Zanzibar and the developer behind this project, Sebastian Dietzold CEO of CPS live. During the initial project work I was working at that time for Bowman Architects Associates in Nairobi – we and our familiesbecame good friends. This also due to the fact that they through their development of Fumba Town were looking beyond the conventional in terms of architecture and building systems. It was a few years after my relocation to New York when we started to envision concepts for more sustainable approaches with timber also for complex multi-story buildings. The local architectural companies, my previous firm in Nairobi included, could not provide designs for these innovative building systems (and also were not really interested in this kind of innovation). I had been running my own design studio, Leander Moons Inc, as a sidekick for a while next to my regular jobs with a special focus on more sustainable design approaches. Once the Covid-19 Pandemic hit, things started to move very rapidly as we discovered the possibilities of bringing our visions to life over web-based meeting platforms. Now my remote location in New York was no longer an issue for projects located in East-Africa. Soon I was looking to extend my design company to cover the resulting workload. I decided to restructure my approach and to use my existing design company, Leander Moons Inc, to advise and support clients and consultants at the early design stages with the implementation of sustainable design systems into potential projects. For all our projects I deliver the design concepts and project management services through my design company. I founded, together with Andreas Trampe-Kieslich, an architectural office in Berlin early 2021. All detailed architectural services are delivered through that company and provided to the local team of architects (part of CPS) for permitting and site implementation. Within OMT architects, Andreas is overseeing our local projects in Germany and I am responsible for all non-German projects.

AS: What is/are the most iconic projects you have been involved in?

LM: The BURJ zanzibar is certainly the most iconic project we have been involved in. However, it is important to understand, that a project like this, a high-rise hybrid-timber residential tower; the tallest in Africa and potentially in the world, is only possible because of the other projects we have realised or are under construction in a similar context. Through the experience and increasing scale and complexity of the other timber projects and our work with leading local and international researchers, consultants and companies, we have gathered the experience to realize this iconic project. Iconic not only in terms of its architecture, innovation and scale, but more importantly as a catalyst for the development of a local industry for engineered timber products.

AS: How would you describe your firm in a unique competitive edge?

LM: Timber is regarded as the building material of the future as it is much better for our climate than any of the conventional building materials. At the same time the development and implementation of timber building systems is still very limited, both in terms of quantities and in terms of locations. Certainly, Europe is most advanced when it comes to implementation, with the rest of the world slowly catching up. The application of engineered timber products in Africa is unfortunately still limited to a handful projects, not in the last place due to the fact that many people regard wood as a building material for the

poor and would prefer a conventional build house. At the same time climate change is happening and we need to start building more climate friendly. Combine that with the rapid population growth on the African continent and the already existing shortage of housing in most African cities and it becomes clear that the place where we can make the biggest contribution to both society and our environment is Africa. Over the past years we have combined research and experience from all over the world and reviewed what would make the most sense in relation to the East-African context. We looked into different species of wood (what can we in the future supply from local sustainable forestry) and various timber building systems. We have implemented different solutions for different projects and developed them to allow for affordable and equitable products which can compete with conventional built buildings in price. Needless to say, that in a humid tropical context the interior climate in an engineered timber building is a lot higher than the climate of a conventional ‘wet-build’ building.

AS: What do you believe to have been your biggest business success over the years?

LM: Our biggest success is that we are able to create sustainable timber housing with units starting from 10.000 USD. We aim to create housing solutions for a far greater part of the African society than regular project developers are currently providing. Therefore, learning from our projects and optimizing them with our local partners to create equitable and affordable houses shows that our vision can become reality, currently in small scale in Zanzibar, but hopefully in the future on a larger scale on the continent. This is only possible when we include the local community in our projects and when we optimize the use of local recourses. This enhances the local value chain and empowers the local population.

AS: How is your firm balancing local solutions for a sustainable world and deliver innovative design for every project?

Leander Moons founder - Leander Moons Inc - Brooklyn partner - OMT architects GmbH - Berlin

LM: I personally have been privileged to live in many different places and to encounter many different cultures and societies. This experience has been an eye-opener when it comes to my work as an architect. Living in the similar places and in a similar social context limits our ability to think outside of the box, it limits innovation. I try to bring this mindset into every new project and look to extend the teams and companies to work with to get as many different angles as possible. On our projects we currently work with people from 5 different continents and many different countries and backgrounds. With all these different opinions we aim to design optimized structures together with the local parties. Their take, from the local parties, on all these different ideas from the international team is –and must be – leading in the decision-making process. Through this process we can not only combine innovation with local solutions for the projects at hand but also give a clear indication how to develop local industrial production processes.

AS: What direction do you see the firm taking in the next ten year, if you had to guess?

LM: | We are committed to grow the use of sustainable building solutions especially in the place where this matters most; Africa. We know that we cannot do this alone, but I hope we can inspire

through our visions and projects others to start doing the same. I thus hope that in ten years’ time we will no longer be considered pioneers and instead became another mainstream architectural company building timber housing.

AS: Your advice for aspiring architects/firms, what is the most challenging part of creating a successful practice?

LM: In my lectures I often include a sheet stating the following: “best practice ≠ innovation” and “innovation = risk”. Many architects these days use the words ‘innovation’ and ‘best practice’ in a single sentence, if you want to be successful though you will need to commit to one of both; building your office and architecture around a best practice approach: optimizing the existing, or take the risk of an innovative approach. Since most developers are risk-averse (they want to maximize return of investment) the best-practice approach is mainstream. It is not a coincidence that the building industry is often considered as the least innovative industry. For those who are following the innovative path, like we do, my advice is to stay true to your vision, are not afraid to make mistakes and do not take anything for granted. Innovation needs time, failure and perseverance to eventually happen.

BURJ ZANZIBAR

Representing a young, vibrant and most of all sustainable lifestyle, the building will allocate a mixture of studio, 1- and 2-bedroom apartments. Like all other apartments the penthouses on the top floors of the tower will offer extraordinary views towards ocean, city and island. Throughout the building amenity and commercial spaces offer additional value to residents and visitors alike. The green and sustainable design concept combined with a well-balanced apartment mix and amenity spaces contribute to an ever-evolving character of the tower, combining mundane trends with local culture. ‘BURJ zanzibar’ will become one of the island’s iconic new addresses.

INNOVATIVE | The innovative layout of the tower allows for highly flexible and adaptable apartment solutions. All apartments, reaching from small studios to vast 2-bedroom penthouses, are based on the same modular layout. Through this design approach apartments of different layouts and sizes can be allocated throughout all floors with maximum flexibility. In addition to the increased flexibility this concept will also contribute to an optimized construction time and enhanced finished qualities.

A similar modular approach has been applied to the design of the shell of the building. Utilizing only three types of modules a playful facade has been created by alternating and changing module depth and function. At the same time the facade addresses the local climate by providing permanent sun shading. The enclosed loggias and balconies contribute to the private character of the apartment’s interior. These outdoor spaces can be transformed into planter boxes but could also be included in the apartment by implementing a panorama window. This innovative and flexible architectural concept allows for

All images are courtesy of OMT Architects

individual solutions to accommodate the resident’s lifestyle related to their cultural backgrounds, family sizes and different stages of life. The design will create diversity in use and occupation: ‘BURJ zanzibar’ as a vertical green village.

EXPRESSIVE | ‘BURJ zanzibar’ and its remarkable and vivid architecture will become one of Zanzibar City’s new landmarks. The white plaster will help to reduce heat gain, while the gold-anodized windows will contribute to the high finished qualities. The roof gardens and planted balconies will enhance the green nature of the tower while blending in with the local climate and surrounding. Residents can have their own outdoor garden even when living on the 27th floor! The expressive yet playful design of the facade contributes to a greater level of privacy on the interior as most high-rise residential projects. The possibilities to set an individual note by the integration of room extension, planters or even a panorama window truly set ‘BURJ zanzibar’ apart.

SUSTAINABLE | The structural concept of the tower is founded on an optimized grid from eight-by-eight meters and subdivided for the apartment and facade layout into steps of four meters. The core includes all vertical circulation and means of egress for the tower. Risers and shafts are located centrally and run without transfers close to the core of the tower over its complete height. Multiple structural systems could be applied, from conventional concrete up to a hybrid timber system. Build in hybrid-timber ‘BURJ zanzibar’ would be the first in Africa. The hybrid timber approach would reduce the ecological footprint of the building whilst enhancing the climate within the interior. The reduced weight of the structure would also have a positive effect on the foundation. As most components can be prefabricated also the amount of waste produced during the process is

limited and most of the remaining waste can be recycled effectively. The modular facade concept follows the same approach and as such adds to the simplicity and cost-effective concept of the tower. At the same time the modular yet playful facade creates permanent sun shading for all apartments minimizing heat gain. Finally, the inclusion of planting not only significantly reduces storm water impact, but also contributes to a pleasant interior climate.

ICONIC | The design of ‘BURJ zanzibar’ directly relates to its young, vibrant and sustainable residents. The elegant tower is placed on a terraced podium allowing for shared and private gardens and outdoor spaces on the lower levels. Green pockets integrated in the façade create the impression of plants growing up towards the rejuvenating top of the tower. The setbacks on the upper most floors enhance the green experience whilst also contributing to the elegant silhouette of the building. The green roof gardens and planted balconies allow for the integration of nature to reflect a sustainable lifestyle and help to reduce the carbon footprint of the building. The alternating facade concept represents the vibrant character of the project and Zanzibar as one of the most beloved destinations in the World. Most importantly this Icon will create flexible and sustainable living qualities to the highest standards for its residents.

APARTMENT TYPOLOGIES

FLEXIBLE | The tower is envisioned as a highly adaptable and flexible vertical village within an optimized effective structural system. The clear and repetitive framework creates the opportunity to integrate multiple different apartments not only in terms of their size - number of bedrooms - but also regarding their orientation and vertical location within the tower. The studio apartments, starting from 22 square meters living area, offer a generous room with build-in pantry kitchen and bathroom. The studio apartments in the podium of the building are designed to allow an increased living area up to 42 square meters, combined with stunning views. Some of these podium studio apartments come with private gardens.

The 1-bedroom apartments combine the area of two studio apartments and start at 42 square meter living area. The living and dining space is well dimensioned and features an open kitchen layout. The bedroom has access to a private balcony and ensuite bathroom. The corner apartments allow for an increased living area up to 60 square meters combined with amazing views towards the ocean.

The 2-bedroom apartments evolve around a spacious living and dining area with grand kitchen. The central room allows for flexible layouts and the optional panorama windows and room extensions create individual design solutions for each resident. Balconies and planters grant the bedrooms with a private and intimate character even if located on the upper most floors.

The penthouse apartments are located on the top floors of the tower. They offer extraordinary all-around-views over Zanzibar and the Indian Ocean. In addition to the unique views these apartments are designed with an increased living area to enhance the living qualities even further. The apartments located at the setback levels come with a well elevated private garden and optional infinity pool, a unique feature!

CONVENIENT | The entrance to the tower is located at the main entry plaza. Adjacent to the entrance commercial units allow for retail and hospitality functions. An open stair in the double story entrance hall connects directly up to the commercial space on the first floor. These spaces on ground and first floor could offer both public and residentrestricted amenities. On top of the podium structure a vast outdoor garden with terraces and an infinity pool creates a unique outdoor space with a stunning ocean view. On this level also the majority of the amenity spaces for the residents are located. A clear organized central elevator core provides access to all floors of the building.

FACADE CONCEPT

DIVERSE | The three-dimensional character of the facade is created by the implementation of alternating extruded pods on all sides of the tower. These pods describe the spatial divisions on the tower’s interior and at the same time provide permanent sun shading to minimize heat gain for every apartment within the building. A simple setback on every second floor contributes to the lively impression of the facade and the tower.

The design intent of the facade is to provide a framework for every apartment, from studio up to penthouse, to create its own unique character. The individual ability to configure and use the exterior space as an extension of the interior living space is a key feature in the facade concept. Several options have been created to be included into the design as per the clients and/or residents requests. These reach from the extension of the living area combined with the integration of a panorama window, to the integration of a planter onto the balcony or an opaque window element. At the same time these created opportunities for individual configurations do lead to a greater diversity of the appearance of the building. Green pockets, panorama windows, balconies and even roof-pools contribute to the iconic future presence of the tower on Zanzibar.

GREEN | Nature has been incorporated as an integral element in the building. The biophilic design approach will allow for direct contact with nature even on the highest floors of the tower. Planters and roof gardens create a green screen filtering the air and enhancing views from the apartments. The soil and plants harvest the rainwater and help to reduce the risks of flooding. Most of all the green atmosphere of the tower increases the quality of living for the residents and their visitors.

TIMBER

ENGINEERED TIMBER | Wood, the oldest building material, is the most sustainable building material. Wood sequestrates carbon while steel and reinforced concrete causing carbon emissions in their production process. Sustainable forestry and the application of wooden materials contribute to a better climate.

Although wood itself has been used throughout history of mankind, engineered timber products entered the market only recently. Innovation in production process and applications of these new timber products are disrupting the conventional construction business and are allowing for more advanced sustainable buildings. Moreover, wood and sustainable forestry have a vast presence in the East-African region.

There is no structural limit to the use of engineered timber elements even in high-rise buildings. The limiting factor currently is the combustible character of the material. Worldwide code requirements are subject to change at this moment to increase the use of timber elements in construction. Research and many build examples have shown that with advanced calculation methods the characteristics of the material and engineered timber products when exposed to fire can be determined and sized to fit building integration. The engineering team on ‘BURJ zanzibar’ includes several stakeholders driving the international research and developments in this field. Their knowledge, combined with the experience of the local authorities, will contribute to the creation of guidelines not only for this project but also for many future projects to follow.

QUALITY | Engineered timber products fulfil the highest quality standards as they are produced within an optimized factory settings. Their rapid assembly on site is comparable to steel structures and characterized by a vast amount of prefabrication off-site. This prefabrication process in a controlled environment also significantly reduces the amount of waste produced in comparison to a conventional building site. The high quality of the surface of exposed timber elements not only creates high-quality internal space but also omits the requirement for additional cladding or plastering. The timber elements allow for a high grade of recycling options for future generations.

‘BURJ zanzibar’ is planned as a hybrid-timber tower. The steel reinforced concrete core allows for fire and life safety standards to meet all current code requirements. The structure around the central core is assembled with glue laminated columns and beams as well as cross laminated slabs. The interior of the apartments benefits from the natural look of exposed timber elements to add to the living quality. ‘BURJ zanzibar’ will become a new landmark for Zanzibar and beyond not only because of its appearance but even more so because if its construction method. The building will promote the local available wood as the building material of the future and draw attention towards a more sustainable construction while offering living conditions to the highest standards.

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Despite low investment, geospatial technologies prove an essential driver of development in Africa

By Maina Waruru

Despite low government investment and a lack of legal framework to guide their use, geospatial technologies are being applied in a wide range of fields across Africa, and are proving to be indispensable tools in the socioeconomic development of the continent, according to a recent conference on the topic.

The fifth edition of the Regional Centre for Mapping of Resources for Development (RCMRD) International Conference was held online and in-person in Nairobi, Kenya between 6-8 September 2022 and explored the theme of ‘Earth observation services for resilient social systems’.

“Geospatial technologies are critical in building resilient social systems and even more important, in making evidencebased decisions for the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs),” Emmanuel Nkurunziza, director-general of the RCMRD, tells Equal Times from the organisation’s base in Nairobi.

The term broadly refers to the state-of-theart tools used to collect, store and analyse geographic information. These technologies include remote sensing, global positioning systems and geographical information

systems, and are being deployed in a variety of areas – from humanitarian relief to agriculture and urban planning – to carry out tasks such as the mapping of forests, lakes and other sensitive ecosystems for biodiversity monitoring, disaster risk reduction and disaster management.

Where laws allow the use of civilian unmanned aerial vehicles, commonly known as drones, they are being used in agriculture to spray pesticides on farms and rangelands, one example being the recent locust invasion in the Horn of Africa. In addition, they have proved useful in the delivery of essential supplies such as medicine in remote areas and in generating critical scientific data during disasters to support evidence-based decision making.

“We have witnessed different challenges as a region, including the recent floods [in Sudan, Malawi, South Africa, and since the conference took place, Nigeria]. We have had problems of drought affecting food security and triggering water scarcity, and we are seeing growing urban population pressures. All of these challenges call on us to intensify our ability to monitor the Earth so that we are able to develop mitigation strategies,” says Nkurunziza, as well as improve the efficient

delivery of services for the betterment of Africa’s 1.4 billion people. Crucial and accurate data

Exploring seven thematic areas such as geoinnovation in health, and smart and green cities, over 600 conference attendees heard about the successes and lessons in the use of Earth observation technologies. For example, in the area of forest governance, the use of applications in two forest observatories dedicated to monitoring the ecosystems of southern and central Africa are providing crucial real-time data to help in improved management of the forests, according to Robert Nasi, director-general of the Centre for International Forestry Research (CIFOR) based in Bogor, Indonesia.

One of the observatories is the East and Southern Africa Forest Observatory OFESA, which provides information on trends and threats to forests in Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, Mozambique and Uganda for better decisionmaking management of forest ecosystems.

Led by CIFOR and RCMRD, and funded by the European Union, the initiative is developing a governance framework which will allow participating countries to share, use and analyse data to address common issues, such

as deforestation and human encroachment.

“One of the main challenges emerging amongst forestry institutions is the lack of updated data, which calls for efforts to update that which already exists. At OFESA we are addressing these capacity gaps as well as supporting the development of a governance framework for data sharing,” says Douglas Bwire, a research officer at CIFOR.

Data collected under OFESA will be shared with governments and organisations protecting forests, through regular state of forests reports. This was in acknowledgement of the fact that without accurate data, monitoring the ecological, environmental and social aspects of wooded areas for conservation is not possible, Bwire admits.

An even bigger initiative is Digital Earth Africa (DE Africa). “DE Africa is empowering countries across Africa with Earth observations to enable climate adaptation and mitigation, greater food security, and sustainable development,” Kenneth Mubea, DE Africa’s capacity development lead tells Equal Times. Anyone, both in the private or public sector or civil society, can use the data generated, as long as it is for development purposes.

Its partners include the Nigeria-based African Region Institute for Geospatial Information Science and Technology (AFRIGIST), the Agriculture, Hydrology, Meteorology (AGRHYMET) research centre based in Niger, the Sahara and Sahel Observatory (OSS)

based in Tunisia, and the RCMRD, amongst other regional bodies.

“We have created a huge impact, and stories by end users are abound. For example, we have supported the mapping mangroves initiative [in Zanzibar, Tanzania], the relocation of giraffes from a lake-flooded island in Lake Baringo, Kenya, and we are offering free training,” Mubea explains.

The platform offers online training to help users explore and visualise available datasets. This includes weekly sessions hosted in English and French where users are guided on the various uses and applications of Earth observation in their daily work.

A driver for development

The conference also highlighted some of the issues facing the widescale deployment of geospatial technologies in Africa. One is low investment. As well as a lack of familiarity with such technologies by those who hold the purse strings in government, there is also the issue of scarce resources and a lack of capacity to maintain and grow the use of these technologies.

A 2019 report by the Africa Regional Data Cube (ARDC), a project on satellite imagery and Earth observation data in five African countries , gives a good sense of some of these challenges. For example, the report notes that it takes “4-6 months of discussions with stakeholders to establish an institutional framework and buy-in from key stakeholders to invest time and staff resources to adopting

the ARDC”. But many other organisations and initiatives do not have the time or resources to dedicate to this consistent level of engagement and lobbying.

It also noted that, a significant amount of time needs to be invested in “getting users comfortable with the technology, so they fully understand what it is, what information it can provide, and how to access and use it”.

Another issue that can hamper the widespread use of geospatial technologies in Africa is the absence of regulations. One of the victims of this is Fahari Aviation, a subsidiary of Kenya Airways. While its drones were widely deployed in aerial mapping, agriculture, land survey, transport and aviation, the company found it difficult to expand beyond the Kenyan borders, owing to a lack of regulation in member countries of the East African Community (EAC), of which Kenya is a founder member. This is despite the fact that the company has partnered with global aerospace giant Boeing to introduce UAVs for aircraft inspection and maintenance.

“As we are all aware, data accuracy is a major issue across Africa and an obstacle to planning. This can be easily remedied by deploying Earth observation science. From experience we know that drone technology allows for unmatched accuracy,” says Fahari Aviation general manager Hawkins Musili. However, until better regulation and more money is put into the sector, its benefits will remain limited on the continent.

An aerial view of long horns cows in Central Equatoria, Terekeka, South Sudan. Geospatial technology, such as drones, can help generate critical scientific data to support evidence-based decision making. (AFP/Eric Lafforgue/Hans Lucas)

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