Infrastructure news from around the continent

BOTSWANA

100 km water pipeline completed

Khato Civils has recently completed a R1.169 billion, 100 km water pipeline for Gaborone and 23 villages.

The Botswana Water Utilities Corporation praised the company for completing the project, which would ordinarily take two years, in 12 months.

Simbi Phiri, chairperson, Khato Civils, said that because this was awarded as a turnkey project, many engineering variations were avoided – and those that were necessary did not cost the Botswana government anything. “We designed the project ourselves, so for any variations, we did not charge government more.”

Phiri said Khato Civils’ ownership and use of modern machines enabled the company to work at speed and complete projects quicker. He said the company used trenchers to dig the 100 km, which were much faster than excavators, as they covered 3 km a day.

DRC

Water to Nyiragongo region restored after volcano

Virunga Energie has just completed rehabilitation work on the water pipeline that supplies the Bushara reservoirs near Goma in the DRC, which was damaged after the eruption of the Nyiragongo volcano in May. The 1 300 m pipeline carries water pumped from Lake Kivu. “Our teams cleared 1 000 m3 of lava that was blocking the pipe. We also deployed laterite along the route of the pipes over the lava,” explains Ephrem Balole, GM of Virunga Energy. The DRC’s Régie de distribution d’eau (Regideso) will connect this stretch of pipeline to the one from Lake Kivu. The public company treats the water pumped from the lake before distributing it to people in the villages of Turunga, Kiziba and Ngangi Nyiragongo, as well as the Katoyi, Bujovu, Majengo and Ndosho neighborhoods in Goma. The water pipeline rehabilitated by Virunga Energy is supported by 300 m of secondary lateral water pipeline.

To improve the efficiency of Regideso throughout the DRC, the government is multiplying initiatives, including the Urban Drinking Water Supply Project (Pemu). The project benefits the cities of Kinshasa, Lubumbashi and Matadi. Pemu will require an investment of US$360 million (R5.21 billion), of which US$59.4 million (R861 million) is for the construction of an industrial water treatment complex. The government is financing the project with a loan from the World Bank.

KENYA

SMEC awarded industrial infrastructure project in Tatu City

Global engineering firm SMEC was recently appointed as lead infrastructure consultant for the second phase of Tatu Industrial Park at Tatu City – a 5 000 acre Special Economic Zone in Nairobi.

A fast-growing industrial zone in Nairobi, Tatu Industrial Park is home to over 60 businesses. Phase 1 is almost 90% sold and work on Phase 2 has already started. This phase is expected to be completed by the end of May 2022.

SMEC is overseeing the design, tender processing and construction of infrastructure. The scope of infrastructure works includes roads, storm drainage, street lighting, water distribution and wastewater reticulation, electrical networks and information communication technologies.

In Tatu Industrial Park Phase 2, Kenya Wine Agencies Limited, majority owned by Distell of South Africa, broke ground in February on a KSh4 billion (R540 million) production and distribution facility.

“We are delighted to commence work at Tatu Industrial Park Phase 2 and to be part of a new city development that has catalysed more than US$1 billion (R14.4 billion) of investment in Kenya in the last four years alone,” says Dave Duke, GM: Social and Urban Development Africa, at SMEC.

MOZAMBIQUE

Dedicated rail service between Mozambique and Zimbabwe

Through its key partnerships with NRZ (National Railways of Zimbabwe), CFM (Caminhos de Ferro de Moçambique) and Traxtion, Unitrans Africa is spurring trade in Africa by offering dedicated rail links between Maputo Port and three major Zimbabwean trade hubs – Harare, Bulawayo and Gweru.

These new transport services offer key access and an enhanced opportunity for importers and exporters to utilise Maputo’s multipurpose deepwater port. As well as promoting new trade opportunities for customers in both Zimbabwe and Maputo, this dedicated rail service will reduce transit times, cut costs and offer a more reliable service, as goods previously needed to be transported via road.

Maputo Port’s enhanced trade capacity is proving vital to its renewed position as a global transit hub, thanks to its strategic location in the region, with extensive road and rail connections throughout Southern Africa, and shipping routes to the Middle East, Europe and East Asia. Unitrans Africa’s rail corridor between Mozambique and Zimbabwe will play a key role in promoting Maputo Port’s standing among its global and African trade partners.

ZAMBIA

200 MWp solar plant in Serenje

US-based Ultra Green Corporation plans to break ground on its Serenje solar photovoltaic power plant in September 2021. The facility, which will have a capacity of 200 MWp, will be connected to Zambia's national power grid. According to Emmanuel Mwizerwa, managing director of Ultra Green Corporation Zambia, the solar photovoltaic plant will be built on a 448 ha site in Kosamu. With 465 people employed at the project site, the company hopes to complete the project after 15 to 18 months of construction.