Infrastructure news from around the continent

EGYPT

Desalination set to take off in a big way

According to Global Water Intelligence (GWI), the UK-based market intelligence provider for the water industry, Egypt is planning to place new orders for desalination projects using seawater, amounting to 2.8 million tonnes of daily water production by 2025. It eventually aims to supply 6.4 million tonnes of water per day through desalination plants drawing on seawater by 2050.

Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction recently signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) on a project in Egypt, signalling the company’s entry into the North African desalination market. The South Korean corporation announced it had signed an MoU with Hassan Allam, a large-sized construction/ developer firm in Egypt, and Almar Water Solutions, a company formed through a Saudi Arabia-Spain joint venture, agreeing to cooperate on a reverse osmosis desalination project.

The companies agreed to enter a comprehensive partnership regarding the delivery of the project. Through this project, they aim to produce a daily supply of 1 million tonnes of water for Ismailia, a seaport city in the middle of the Suez Canal.

“Over the past 40 years, Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction has built around 30 seawater desalination plants in the Middle East region, which has led to widespread recognition by clients for our technical expertise,” says Inwon Park, CEO: EPC at Doosan Heavy Industries & Construction.

KENYA

Converting solid waste into electricity

VR Holding AB has been appointed by the Kenyan government to carry out a solid waste-to-energy project in Kakamega County. Costing US$53 million (R802 million), the construction of the Kakamega Solid Waste-to-Energy plant will provide employment opportunities for residents, simultaneously contributing to the socio-economic growth of the county.

According to Kakamega Governor Wycliffe Oparanya, VR Holding has nine months to deliver the facility. In addition to diversifying the electricity mix and decentralising power generation, the Kakamega authorities want to provide a sustainable solution to the problem of solid waste pollution.

This project is being launched less than a year after the commissioning of a medical waste treatment plant in the same county. The unit built in Kakamega has a capacity of 60 tonnes per day. The new facility uses biodigestion or anaerobic digestion technology to treat medical waste.

MOZAMBIQUE

Grindrod flags plans to expand Port of Maputo

The Maputo Port Development Company (MPDC) has announced plans to triple capacity at its Maputo terminal (GML) and Matola Drybulk terminal (TCM) in Mozambique in response to rising demand for coal exports from South Africa. Grindrod and the government of Mozambique are the MPDC’s major shareholders.

This extension is projected to boost South Africa’s mining exports on a yearon-year basis, increase volume exports by existing port users, and promote port access to new users.

GML’s throughput capacity will treble – from 1.5 million tonnes per annum to 4.5 million tonnes annually – by the first half of this year. The expansion at TCM will increase from 7.3 million tonnes per annum to 12 million tonnes per annum in the short to medium term, and 20 million tonnes per annum in the long term.

GHANA

Diversifying energy mix through nuclear

The US and Ghana are partnering under the Foundational Infrastructure for Responsible use of Small Modular Reactor Technology (First) programme to support Ghana’s adoption of nuclear technology. Japan has been a valuable partner with the US on the First initiative and will build on its existing partnership with Ghana. This includes support for stakeholder engagement, advanced technical collaboration, and project evaluation and planning.

According to Ghana’s Minister of Energy, Dr Matthew Opoku Prempeh, the decision to include nuclear power in the nation’s energy mix has led to establishing Nuclear Power Ghana Limited as an owner-operator and project developer. The First programme will help Ghana develop the competencies of Nuclear Power Ghana to build and operate Ghana’s first nuclear power plant safely. “Clean, reliable and safe nuclear energy could provide significant benefits to the people of Ghana, including clean energy, agricultural improvements, clean water and advanced medical treatment,” says Stephanie Sullivan, US ambassador.

Drawing on 60 years of US experience working with nuclear energy, the First programme provides capacity-building support to partner countries as they develop their nuclear energy programmes. To date, the US has announced US$7.3 million (R110 million) to support First projects around the world.

Initial training in Ghana during 2022 will focus on stakeholder engagement, licensing and regulatory development, financing, workforce development and nuclear security, safety and non-proliferation.

ZIMBABWE

Rehabilitated road in Mhondoro-Ngezi district

Close to 200 km of road has been repaired using the Zimbabwean government’s allocation of devolution funds and the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP2).

The ERRP2’s focus is road resealing, road rehabilitation and construction, gravelling, spot regravelling, drainage structure construction and repair, wash-away and gully reclamation, erosion works and drainage, vegetation clearing, and pothole patching.

Apart from regravelling most roads, the Mhondoro-Ngezi Rural District Council is finalising tarring a 4.6 km stretch of Binya Road that connects Selous-Ngezi highway and Turf township, which was impassable during the rainy season.

Council engineer Miriam Jima says the Binya Road works are now 74% complete. “With ERRP2, we are planning to do 198 km in MhondoroNgezi and Muzvezve constituencies. Five of the roads are 100% complete while the other remaining roads are 70% complete, with works now left to be done on culverts.”

ETHIOPIA

Electricity generation from Nile dam begins

Ethiopia is now producing electricity from its Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD) – a massive hydropower plant on the Nile River that neighbours Sudan and Egypt.

In February, Prime Minister Abiy Ahmed officially inaugurated electricity production from the mega dam. While Sudan and Egypt maintain that the dam will cause severe water shortages downstream, the prime minister sought to assure neighbouring nations his country did not wish to harm their interests.

“Ethiopia’s main interest is to bring light to 60% of the population who is suffering in darkness, to save the labour of our mothers who are carrying wood on their backs in order to get energy. As you can see, this water will generate energy while flowing as it previously flowed to Sudan and Egypt, unlike the rumours that say the Ethiopian people and government are damming the water to starve Egypt and Sudan,” he said.

GERD is set to be the largest hydro-electric scheme in Africa but has been at the centre of a regional dispute ever since Ethiopia broke ground there in 2011. The US$4.2 billion (R63.5 billion) project is ultimately expected to produce more than 5 000 MW of electricity, more than doubling Ethiopia’s electricity output.

Ethiopia, the second most populous country on the continent, has the second biggest electricity deficit in Africa according to the World Bank, with about twothirds of the population of about 110 million lacking a connection to the grid.