African Business 2020 edition

SPECIAL FEATURE
Foundation and the Industrial Development
Corporation of South Africa (IDC). At the WEF
hosted by Rwanda in 2016 a commitment was
made to ensure that 16 infrastructure projects
valued at more $20-billion would be implemented.
As further proof that there is an appetite
for investment in Africa, the Emerging Africa
Infrastructure Fund (EAIF) announced that it had
raised $385-million in a fundraiser in 2018. The
EAIF, which is part of the Private Infrastructure
Development Group (PIDG), is investing over a
five-year term in what are called “fragile” states.
To date, EAIF has invested nearly $1.3-billion
which was pivotal in attracting more than
$10.9-billion of private capital investment to
over 70 projects in 22 Sub-Saharan countries.
Allianz Investment Management and Investec
Asset Management are investors in EAIF. Others
include Standard Chartered Bank, the African
Development Bank, FMO (a Dutch development
finance institution) and KFW, the German
development bank. AfDB is providing a total of
$75-million over 10 years, Standard Chartered Bank
is extending its existing lending to $50-million.
Separate articles on energy, transport and
logistics and ICT appear elsewhere in this journal.
Cities
Cement manufacturer PPC is gearing up for
the exponential growth of African cities. The
company’s roots are in South Africa, but it
has invested, and is investing, in Zimbabwe,
the Democratic Republic of the Congo,
Rwanda, Botswana and Ethiopia. Its Rwandan
investment has turned that country into a net
exporter of cement.
PPC’s projections are that producers of
cement will need to provide 1 000kg per person in
Africa for the next 35 years to keep pace with the
coming building boom. The current average in
Africa is 175kg per person against a world average
of 500kg. Given that the production of cement
is a big source of greenhouse gases, the planet
will have to hope that African cement producers’
efforts to reduce carbon emissions are successful.
An ambitious Egyptian project aims to create
a new city east of Cairo, a response to projections
that the capital city’s population will rise to
50-million on its current trajectory. Intended
to cover a land area of around 700km², the first
phase caters for government departments, the
parliament and housing.
The development company is majorityowned
by the state through the military and the
China State Contracting Engineering Corporation
(CSCEC) has a number of contracts within
the development. CSCEC was also involved
in the construction of the African Union (AU)
headquarters in Addis Ababa and the Great
Mosque of Algiers. In 2019 a cathedral and a large
mosque were dedicated in what is being called
the “New Administrative Capital”.
The 390m Nile Tower will be Africa’s tallest
building. Work on the huge building commenced
in 2019 and it will provide 35 000m² of hotel
accommodation and 60 000m² for residential
accommodation.
Other future cities include efforts by Lagos to
reclaim land and build a new urban centre, Eko
Atlantic City, and a Senegalese initiative to reduce
pressure on Dakar with the creation of Diamniadio
Lake City. The latter project, set to be completed
in 2035, makes provision for a university, an
industrial park, entertainment venues and state
ministry buildings. The proposed city is close to
Blaise Diagne International Airport.
Several planning initiatives are tackling urban
issues in the African context. One of them is
“Future Cities Africa”, a joint initiative of Cities
Alliance and UK’s Department for International
Development. The aim is to assist cities to balance
environmental risk and manage demographic
change while at the same time achieving
inclusive economic growth. Arup, an engineering
and design company, has conducted studies on
nine cities in four African countries as part of this
project. The study is called “Future Proofing City”.
One of the biggest issues facing cities is
financing. Kampala has introduced property
taxes as a new source of revenue, but as a
representative of the Royal Institution of
Chartered Surveyors told Summit Africa 2018,
“To keep pace with urbanisation, cities can’t rely
solely on user or property charges to retrofit and
expand themselves.”
AFRICAN BUSINESS 2020
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