Uganda, through the Uganda People’s Defence Force is planning to spend US$177 million ( 17 billion Shillings) in in a housing project that would involve constructing 30,000 housing units for the soldiers. This is according to the 2015/2016 budget framework paper for the country. The units will be of great help to soldiers who are currently residing in barracks around the country.
The housing project will be undertaken by UPDF’s Engineering Brigade together with Medallion Engineering Limited from China.
The cost of land is estimated at 1.2 billion Shillings while construction of the housing units will cost 16 billion Shillings. The houses will accommodate a total of 7500 families of the UPDF. Uganda forces have already started first phase construction, which will comprise of 16 units at the Masaka Armored Brigade.
The housing project is expected to help a major project to phase out grass thatched houses, a program launched in 2011. In addition to the project, the defense forces will also undertake construction of Air force hospital in Entebbe and the renovation of old buildings that are under the UPDF’s control.
The housing project, if implemented, will see the security sector take a 1.2 trillion Shillings – which is largest amount in the budget. Last year, it was announced that Shelter Afrique would spend US$200m in a housing project that would benefit 20, 000 Ugandans. The four year project would involve construction of 4,000 commercial and social housing units, schools, health centers and waste management facilities.
Uganda is suffering a massive housing deficit standing at 1.3 million units and is in need of affordable housing units. The country is just among many of the countries that are suffering from lack of affordable houses. The shortage has been fueled by increased urbanization and high population growth. Many countries are also seeing mass housing as a solution to the problem and others are already using new technologies to address the issue.
The Kenya construction and infrastructure sector is anticipating a growth of 9% year-on-year in 2015 according to Kenya Infrastructure Report Q3 2015 released this month by Business Monitor International. The growth in the sector is expected to remain over a 10-year forecast period to 2024.
A Long-term interest in the construction and infrastructure sector will be driven by successful issuance of Eurobond. Issuance of the bond will also boost the government’s ability to finance infrastructure developments; so reports Business Monitor International.
Although some growth in the construction and infrastructure is expected, insecurity in some parts of the country and devolution of fiscal powers will affect further growth via delays in investment in infrastructure, residential and non-residential sectors.
Business Monitor International cites among the key developments include a USD1.2bn project to connect Kenya, Zambia, and Tanzania electricity grid, which is likely to earn more revenues for the countries through exportation of electricity and also expected to alleviate power outages according to Christopher Yaluma, Zambia’s Minister of Mines, Energy and Water .
The deal agreement for the project has already been signed by the governments. The countries will be hooked via 1,600km of power transmission lines. It is expected to start at the end of this year and be completed by December 2018.
Kenya has, from last year, rolled out massive road annuity infrastructure program that would together see construction and/or rehabilitation of 10, 000km of roads. The project has already started and, although there were challenges being reported by local contractors in regard to prequalification requirements and local banks in regard to funding, the government is expecting to have roads constructed by local firms through funds from banks and other sources and then be payed after completion of the contracts.
Both local and international contractors are participating in the roads annuity project. Kenya is also undertaking the LAPSSET project, where a railway network and port of Lamu are anticipated.
Ethiopia’s housing minister has said that the country is ready to let foreign companies take part in housing development as local firms are proving too slow.
Inviting foreign companies has become important because of local enterprises are failing to finish construction within the deadlines, said minister of urban development and housing construction, Mekuria Haile.
Speed is important to meet the ever-increasing demand for housing, he added, the government cannot achieve the goal to transfer more houses to the public with the current performance of the local enterprises. Because of this, it is necessary to involve some foreign companies in order to complete construction on time as well as to transfer knowledge to local enterprises. The aim is for local micro enterprises to work closely with foreign companies to build up their capacity.
Tendering is already under way for the construction of the programme, he said. The companies that win the contracts will take part in projects to be started shortly.
Opening of a new viaduct on the shoreline of Loch Lomond in Scotland has meant that traffic light controls have been removed from a narrow section of the A82 for the first time in over 30 years.
The viaduct at Pulpit Rock now provides a two way carriageway at what was previously a narrow, one lane stretch of road.
The £9.2M upgrade was described as a “remarkable engineering achievement” by Scottish Transport Minister Derek Mackay.
“The A82 is not only a vital lifeline for businesses and local communities but a very popular route for visitors to Scotland," he said. "This is why we have pumped £57M into the road’s upgrade and maintenance since 2007.
A Transport Scotland spokesman added that the road improvement at Pulpit Rock will provide improved journey time reliability and reduce driver frustration. The A82 is a main link between Glasgow and the Highlands.
The viaduct structure opened to traffic late last week and minor finishing works will take place to complete the scheme over the coming weeks.
Meanwhile a project to improve a 16km stretch of the A82 at Loch Lomond between Tarbet and Inverarnan is currently being taken forward. Design plans for this scheme are expected to be published this year.
Transport Minister Derek Mackay explained: “We must strike a fine balance in seeking to meet the varying needs of road users and being sensitive to the world renowned scenic beauty of the area.”
Trains are due to start serving a newly completed rail station in Ebbw Vale, south Wales, from this Sunday.
Ebbw Vale Town station has been built by Network Rail as part of a £11.5M Welsh Government funded project which also includes a track extension and line speed improvements.
The station will be served by an existing hourly service on the Ebbw Vale to Cardiff line, with the potential for additional services to be introduced in future.
Delivery of the project by Buckingham Group Contracting involved construction of a new station building, 150m of platform to serve trains up to six cars long, a car park, customer information screens, ticket machines and bicycle storage. New track has also been installed to extend the line north from Ebbw Vale Parkway.
Ebbw Vale is located in the north eastern corner of the Welsh valleys.
Welsh Government Transport Minister Edwina Hart said: “The Ebbw Vale railway line is very popular, with some 300,000 journeys annually. Together with our investment in the track, the new Ebbw Vale Town station will improve access to jobs and services for more people along this busy route.”
Network Rail Wales route enhancement manager James Jackson added: "The extension into Ebbw Vale town, along with the new station, will help boost the local economy by making it easier to travel by train.”
Ebbw Vale will also soon be served by an upgraded A465. To read a report on this road dualling project see the upcoming May issue of Transportation Professional.
CIHT NEWS
General Motors is starting work this month on a US$1bn (£615m) project to expand and renovate its Warren Technical Center campus in the USA.
The work includes construction of new design studios and the reconstruction and renovation of some existing R&D facilities. A new multi-storey IT building will be built as well as new facilities to accommodate additional testing areas. There will also be extensive office upgrades.
The investment is on top of US$139.5m previously announced for upgrades at its Warren Pre-Production Operations facility.
Initial construction on the 326-acre Tech Center began in 1949 and it opened in 1956. The campus was designed by architect Eero Saarinen and landscape architect Thomas Church. It was named a National Historic Landmark in 2014 by the Department of the Interior and the National Park Service.
Special assistant to the President for project monitoring and implementation Lucky Mulusa has said that the government would resolve delays in construction of a new runway at Kasama airport.
The project, which would be undertaken at a cost of K144 million will see the airport handle larger planes. According to Northern Province Permanent Secretary Hlobotha Nkunika, the new runway will also help boost potential of tourism in the Northern Circuit. It would also open the area to the outside world.
Mr Mulusa said this when he visited the site last month and added that it was important to have the project completed in order for the people to realize related benefits. The project would entail construction of a new 3 km runway to bituminous standards. The runway would be constructed parallel to the existing 1.7 kilometer runway.
The project would be undertaken by Chinese Anhui-Shuin Construction Group of China, which according to reports, has started mobilizing of resources for the runway project. Lucie Hua, a representative of the company said that the company was ready to start off with the construction of the runway as soon as the consultant is engaged.
President of Zambia Michael Sata said on February that the country would improve airports to international standards. A passenger terminal would be constructed at the cost of US$25m at Kenneth Kaunda International Airport to help handle 4 million passengers. Other projects would be relocation of Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe Airport in Ndola and Harry Mwaanga Nkumbula International airport. The country has also initiated road projects.
The Trade Union Congress (TUC), in conjuction with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited and the Rock of Ages Properties Limited have said they will construct 100,000 housing units for the TUC members in Nigeria.
This was revealed by Bala Kaigama, the President of the Union during his assessment tour on the 5000 housing units whose construction in Rock City Estate, Lugbe, Abuja, and which forms the first cluster /first phase of construction project.
The first phase of the project will occupy 100 hectares and ends in the next 12 months. A total of 443 hectares have been allocated for the whole project.
The president said the need to construct the housing units was instigated by need to provide affordable houses to the company members.
A mixture of types of housing units are going to be constructed, including two and three bedroom apartments, three and four-bedroom terrace duplexes as well as four-bedroom semi-detached duplexes and five-bedroom fully detached duplexes.
According to Mr. Kaigama, the housing project will however receive finance from the Federal Mortgage Bank of Nigeria (FMBN) while on the other hand, subscribers of the Housing Fund (NHF) are likely to benefit from the project proposal.
Executive Director of Rock of Ages Properties Limited, Mr. Adike Chux has said the project will surpass the traditional method where one needs to save millions of naira to purchase a home.
According to the Executive Director, about US$8.5m has already been set aside purposely to carter for the United Workers Housing program which will be made accessible to the workers under a mortgage plan to see them own a house under a 30-years repayment arrangement depending on the type of the house.
Nigeria, which is struggling with a massive housing deficit standing at over 2 million housing units, had previously announced that it would need US$353 to cut down the housing deficit. The Federal Bank of Nigeria had earlier pledged US$618.8m for housing projects A number of mass housing projects have been initiated, including Lafarge Africa Plc are investing in construction of housing units in the country.
Ethiopia has entered a Memorandum of Understanding with four Turkish firms in a bid to see them undertake power generation projects to boost the energy sector in the country. The MOU was signed in Turkey when a delegation from Ethiopia visited the country.
This is according to Ethiopia Electric Power. Azeb Asnake, Chief Executive Officer of Ethiopia Electric Power, has said that negotiations with the companies would start soon to see materialization of the projects.
In an Ethio-Turkish Business to Business meeting at Sheraton Addis last week, Azeb said Turkish businesses had been familiarized with energy sector targets for Ethiopia in the next five years. Members of Istanbul Electrical, Electronics, Machinery and ICT Exporters Association are some of the 24 Turkish firms that attended the meeting.
Azeb revealed they were encouraging Turkish firms to invest in energy sector projects that generate 500MW of power and above, although the minimal limit was set at t 300 MW.
“Interested companies in megaprojects are already making contacts and if deals are to be stricken, the government would buy energy generated by these companies. Currently, the tariffs are being worked out,” Azeb said.
Ethiopia is looking to generate power for domestic use and regional sale according to presentations made at the recent 7th Africa Cementrade Summit; which took place on 14-15 April 2015 in Ethiopia. Azeb also revealed that transmission power lines in Ethiopia were suffering massive losses “beyond the acceptable level”. Although he did not disclose the loss percentage, some studies have shown that it reached beyond 20 percent in 2008.
He said the government would replace old transmission lines and sub stations to deal with the losses. In addition to undertaking massive power projects; Grand Ethiopian Renaissance project, Gibe III, Gebba River dam, and Genale Dawa hydropower project– which will generate 250MW – is also nearing completion.
The country energy sector is seeing an addition of 2268MW of power. Last year, Ethiopia issued a US$1bn sovereign bond to fund megaprojects, among them energy and other infrastructure projects. It also announced setting up of US$20bn for energy projects.
The executive Mayor of Johannesburg city, Parks Tau, has said that key sections of Johannesburg highway will be upgraded to e-toll quality level.
The M1 and M2 road networks will have capacity assessment done before the upgrade. An assessment will also be done on the Soweto Highway.
The assessment is expected to reveal the extent of needed upgrade, as well as help find out innovative solutions that will be used to tackle road congestion.
Part of renovation of the Johannesburg highway includes renovation of the M1 Double Decker road section, Federation and Oxford bridges, which are expected to start in the first quarter of the next financial year.
Mayor Tau said the inner city renewal project had transformed the landscape of the Johannesburg city, with Maboneng, Braamfontein, Newton and Marshalltown precincts now having international travel guides. The transformation, he said, was attracting businesses back to the inner city.
Construction of the Johannesburg’s City Council Chamber, which includes building modern facility council officials and public, has begun. This will form part of the Metro Precinct development project being undertaken to transform it to create an inviting environment and accessible space.
All departments will be able to carry out a 24-hour operations following the city transformation; it will have office spaces, retail shops, residential facility and a people’s square.
Johannesburg Roads Agency last year launched more projects, including the Naledi Bridge project expected to end by September this year. South Africa, which is running a US$847bn infrastructure programme, last year recorded a road construction backlog reaching at USD $17.57bn although it has rolled out several road projects
Construction work on the new KPMG offices located next to Roggebaai Offices has begun. The KPMG Place building project, which is expected to be constructed at an estimated price of US $33.19m, will be undertaken by FWJK developers. The development is located at the 4 Christiaan Barnard Street in Cape Town and will form the front row of the Roggebaai Office Precinct.
Although there will be other tenants in the building, KPMG will be the main tenant taking up to 7000m2 of office space in the mixed use development project which will occupy 19 000m2. KPMG will relocate all its operation from the MSC building.
The Managing partner at KPMG Gary Pickering noted that the company had settled for the choice of the building due to green initiatives that had been incorporated in its construction.
Electricity and water saving systems have been incorporated through use of light motion sensors inside the KPMG Place building and the parking bays. Other strategies that have been implemented include heat glazing, wall kettles and water saving sanitary and brassware.
According to the Spokesman for FWJK, Craig Armstrong, the KPMG Place building will be the second high-rise tower that his company has constructed in the South African city. The other development that they worked on is the Touchstone House located in Bree Street which is set to be complete in October 2015.