Africa Surveyors May-June issue 2021

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NEWS BRIEFS Paragon Risk Engineering Opens Southern Africa Office Paragon Risk Engineering, a leading provider of risk consulting services for the global commercial insurance sector, announces the launch of their new operation Paragon Southern Africa, based in Johannesburg, South Africa. The operation will be led by Mr. Riyaad Bagus, who comes with experience in the fire protection and international insurance fields. “Paragon’s investment in South Africa represents another step in expanding our extensive global footprint, which now includes companies in USA, Canada, Mexico, UK, Germany, France, Greece, UAE, Singapore, Australia and servicing offices in more than thirty countries.” Stated Jon Woodman, CEO Paragon Risk Engineering. The opening of the company in South Africa follows Paragon’s recent announcement of their acquisition of Optirisk in France. East Africa Metals targets resource expansion as it prepares to renew exploration activity in Ethiopia with a $2.7M drill program EIB approves $95 million for geothermal power in East Africa The European Investment Bank (EIB) has approved $4.9 billion financing for renewable energy, clean transport, COVID-19 recovery, social housing and education. Of this amount, $95 million will be allocated to the East Africa Rift Geothermal Project. The operation is an envelope for financing individual private sector investments into geothermal power generation projects in different countries in the East African Rift region. Suboperations under the envelope will undergo individual project appraisals and be separately approved for bank financing. Funding is available for the countries of: Burundi, Comoros, Djibouti, Eritrea, Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Mayotte, Mozambique, Reunion, Rwanda, Seychelles, Somalia, South Sudan, Tanzania, and Uganda. The proposed envelope will allow the EIB to provide financing to several projects implemented by promoters active in the geothermal power sector in the region (individual private sector investments into geothermal power generation). SMEC South Africa has once again received top honors at the 2021 PMR. africa Excellence Awards, having placed 1st overall in both the Civil Consulting Engineers and Structural Consulting Engineers categories for companies with more than 400 employees. SMEC South Africa receives top industry rankings in consulting engineering Convened by market research house, PMR.africa, the Excellence Awards are industrydriven, based on in-depth market research from within the construction industry and are a reflection of how clients and industry insiders rate companies. SMEC South Africa CEO, Logashri Sewnarain, and Strategic Business Development Executive, Bongani Mthombeni-Möller, accepted the PMR.africa Diamond Eligible projects will typically include greenfield development and brownfield expansions, with proven geothermal resources. Investments in geothermal energy will help diversify base load renewable electricity supply in the region and contribute to the reduction in greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions compared to fossil-fuel based alternatives, thereby supporting the sustainable economic development of the East African Rift countries. Werner Hoyer, President of the European Investment Bank, said: “The projects approved highlight the EIB’s engagement across Europe and around the world to unlock private and public investment that addresses local priorities and global challenges. Tomorrow I will update the EIB’s Governors, EU finance and economy ministers, on the EU Bank’s rapid response to challenges caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and our strong and growing support for green transition and climate action across the world.” Arrow Awards in both the Civil and Structural Consulting Engineers categories on behalf of the company. This is the fourth year in which SMEC South Africa has been recognised by PMR.africa, having previously received awards in the Civil, Structural and Combined Civil and Structural Categories in 2016, 2017 and 2018. East Africa Metals Inc. would like to provide an update on the ongoing exploration of its gold and gold/copper/zinc projects in the Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia (“Ethiopia”). After productive meetings with government officials in Addis Ababa last week, the Company is looking to building on the success achieved over the past ten years through the Company’s investment of approximately $30,000,000 in exploration with the support of the Ministry of Mines and Petroleum (“MoMP”). East Africa is preparing to initiate a fully funded $2,700,000 exploration program announced in early 2021 (see new release February 1, 2021). The six-month state of emergency declared in the Tigray region was lifted on May 4th, 2021. It is anticipated that commercial activity in the Tigray region will normalize in the near future, as it recovers from the impacts of the COVID pandemic and the political unrest. EAM has completed the planning and received government approval for the $2,700,000 Phase 1 exploration program that will include 8,000 meters of diamond drilling, 115 line kilometers of geophysical surveys, environmental, metallurgical studies and resource calculations/updates. The initiation of the Phase 1 diamond drilling program is expected to begin immediately after the Government declares the region ready for field operations. EAM’s management has confidence in the potential of the Company’s exploration assets in the Tigray region and looks forward continued participation in what has become an active and emerging exploration sector. The Company has equal confidence in progressive policy initiatives of the Ethiopian government under the administration of the recently appointed Minister of Mines, His Excellency Takale Uma. Ethiopia’s MoMP has undertaken a program of major reforms to improve the Ethiopian Mining Proclamation designed to align government policy with the needs of international and domestic resource investors. These policy revisions should result in significant growth in Ethiopia’s mining sector, promoting the interests of both artisanal miners and exploration and mining companies by improving the ease of access to licenses and finance for Small to Medium Enterprises (SME) and large-scale miners. 4 May-June issue l 2021 www.africasurveyorsonline.com
NEWS BRIEFS Nigeria’s Federal School of Surveying to get upgrade The Federal Government plans to upgrade one of its oldest institutions, the Federal School of Surveying (FSS) in Oyo state into a university, To boost teaching of surveying and geo-informatics. Nigeria’s inland waterways operations granted boost African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) and the Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) have green-lit a joint $750,000 grant that will bridge the gap in maritime transport infrastructure and improve trade in the region in line with the African Continental Free Trade Agreement. The grant will support the charting of the main channel of the Niger-Benue river in Nigeria, as part of the Regional Sealink Project, which aims to bridge the gap in maritime transport infrastructure and improve trade connectivity in West Africa. Necessary arrangements are in place for the institution to benefit from the Tertiary Education Trust Fund as part of its efforts to upgrade the school to meet the standards of higher colleges in the country. Samuel Taiwo, the Surveyor General of the Federation, who stated this after a meeting in Abuja, said the school would remain a source of pride to Nigeria, adding that FSS is globally recognised as a centre of excellence for training of surveyors and related professionals. According to Taiwo, the Gambian Government has requested for the training of its nationals on surveying and geo-informatics at FSS because of its academic landmark since it was established in 1908. He stressed that the management and staff were already working towards collaborating with the Federal University of Technology, Akure, and Ajayi Crowther University, Abeokuta to offer courses on geology, geo-physics, hydrology and post-graduate disciplines. The surveyor general said the administrative complex, 1000-seat capacity lecture hall, the Continuously Operating Reference Station (CORS) capable of streaming data for users in Lagos, Ibadan and Osogbo will be completed in earnest. He, therefore, enjoined the management to use the station to generate revenue, saying, the focus is to install more CORS across the country for streaming of data online, surveying and mapping to correct some errors in the system. Afreximbank provided a grant of $350,000 to supplement the $400,000 made available by NEXIM, thus completing the financing of the barthymetric survey and hydrograhic and hydrological studies of the lower Niger-Benue river. The studies will be undertaken under a joint collaboration framework between the Nigerian Navy Hydrography Department, Nigeria’s National Inland Waterways Authority (NIWA) and Sealink Consortium Partners. Delta Drone International’s ParaZero expands into South Africa The completion of the studies will support the early commencement of the inland waterways operations planned under the Regional Sealink Project, by enabling the development of the inland waterways navigation chart as well as river ports and anchorage plans that will facilitate both bulk commodities and general cargo shipping, thereby boosting Nigeria’s bulk commodities trade and exports. The Regional Sealink Project is a trade facilitation initiative designed to address the critical logistics infrastructure gap towards facilitating and deepening inland and intra-coastal waterways operations. It was adopted by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) Commission as one of its seven priority projects under the ECOWAS Community Development Programmes. Its implementation is expected to mitigate some of the main barriers to regional integration and the growth of cross-border trade, especially trade in large volumes of bulk commodities. Inland waterways are a key transport mode that plays a vital role in facilitating the efficient and cost-effective movement of goods and providing a competitive alternative to rail and road transport, while ensuring integration into the country’s international logistics chain. Global drones-as-a-service provider, Delta Drone International‘s (ASX:DLT) safety specialist brand, ParaZero, has signed its first customer contract in South Africa with a leading enterprise mining company for its patented SafeAir drone parachute technology. The company, which cannot be named for commercial and security reasons, will deploy ParaZero’s SafeAir at scale to enhance its drone safety practises, with the technology comprising independent sensors to constantly monitor and analyse a drone’s flight patterns, so in the unlikely event of a drone failure, a parachute is automatically activated to land safely – including over people and moving vehicles. This sales contract is reflective of the synergy benefits of the combined Delta Drone and ParaZero businesses and represents significant potential for additional sales of ParaZero’ market leading technology through the industry networks of its parent entity, Delta Drone SA (France), and the combined Delta Drone International sales channels as the company increases the international footprint of its specialist business units covering safety, compliance, training and drone service operations in all commercial sectors and environments. Commenting on the agreement, Delta International CEO, Christopher Clark said: “Leveraging the contacts of our largest shareholder, Delta Drone in France to sign ParaZero’s first customer contract in South Africa moves us a step closer to achieving our goal of becoming a truly international drones-as-a-service provider.” “Ensuring our customers’ in-house drone systems not only comply but exceed the most stringent safety standards set by the world’s civil aviation regulators is of the utmost importance to our business and is a testament to our research and development team who consistently work to create the newest innovations in drone safety technology.” “As the world continues to further embrace drone technology, we will continue to play a leading role in helping the drone industry ensure safety and compliance through our patented safety solutions.” www.africasurveyorsonline.com May-June issue l 2021 5
Page 1 and 2: May - June issue 2021 Volume 3 issu
Page 3: Contents CONTENTS Current Issue The
Page 7 and 8: INTERNATIONAL Worldsensing supports
Page 9 and 10: LEAD SPONSOR 6 - 7 October 2021 The
Page 11 and 12: OGA launches GIS virtual gallery of
Page 13 and 14: Multiplexers and telemetry solution
Page 15 and 16: OPINION ensure that additional info
Page 17 and 18: HYDROGRAPHIC SURVEY Survey Services
Page 19 and 20: t: +44 (0) 1489 898000 solutions@sa
Page 21: MEP ENGINEERING Engineers, more oft
Page 24 and 25: SMART SUBSEA SOLUTIONS Delivering d
Page 26 and 27: FEATURE Esri ArcGIS Pro certified f
Page 28 and 29: CONSTRUCTION GeoSLAM Launches New S
Page 30 and 31: Introducing Internet-enabled correc
Page 32 and 33: DRONES Parrot unveils ANAFI Ai: The
Page 34 and 35: MAPPING University of Oxford improv
Page 36 and 37: PROJECT REVIEW Casablanca Finance C
Page 38 and 39: 38 May-June issue l 2021 www.africa
Page 40: VERSION 6 YOUR WORKFLOW CONNECTED 1

Africa Surveyors May-June issue 2021

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