21
Mixed region
REGIONAL REPORT: NORTH AFRICA
december 2013
international
construction
>
Political instability
continues to overshadow
many of the region’s
economies, but North
Africa’s construction
markets are fopen for
business.
Helen Wright
reports.
T
here are some countries in
North Africa that represent good
opportunities for the construction
industry, with international manufacturers
and contractors alike targeting expansion
in countries such as Algeria, Morocco and
Tunisia.
But the picture is far from perfect in the
region, with power vacuums and conflicts
disrupting markets in Libya and Egypt.
However, that is not to say that the entire
construction sectors in these countries have ground to a halt – in
fact there are clear signs of activity and investment despite the
instability.
In Libya, for instance, a € 963 million (US$ 1.3 billion)
contract to construct the first 400 km section of a 1,700 km
coastal motorway was this year awarded to a consortium led by
Italian contractor Salini Impregilo. The new motorway will run
across Libya from the Tunisian border to the Egyptian border.
Development bank loans are also bolstering infrastructure
investment in the region. The Islamic Development Bank (IDB),
for example, has committed to a string of loans in the past 12
months, including US$ 200 million in support of Tunisia’s
Rades-C combined cycle power project, and US$ 109 million for
irrigation and drainage pumping stations in Egypt.
In Mali, the IDB has also pledged US$ 250 million to support
reconstruction in the wake of conflict across the country. This
came on top of funding of over € 240 million (US$ 308 million)
from the African Development Bank (AfDB), plus a € 56 million
(US$ 72 million) AfDB loan for a drinking water supply project.
In fact, the AfDB and Made in Africa Foundation have
launched an infrastructure fund for the continent as a whole that
aims to raise up to US$ 500 million by the first half of 2014.
The target is to plug some of the US$ 93 billion of investment a
year that the AfDB estimates is needed to 2020 to close Africa’s
infrastructure deficit.
Manufacturers
Meanwhile, construction equipment manufacturers are eyeing
the region’s prospects closely. SMT Nigeria, the national dealer
for Volvo Construction Equipment, Volvo Trucks and Volvo
Penta, opened its new Volvo Service Centre in the capital Abuja in
October, for example – the dealer’s fourth branch in the country.
Part of SMT Nigeria’s efforts to improve its sales and aftersales
service in the country, the 20,000 m
2
facility features a 10 bay
workshop, inspection pit and parts store.
CEO of SMT Group Jérôme Barioz said, “Nigeria is a very
important market for the group. Abuja is one of the continent’s
fastest growing cities and Nigeria as a whole has huge potential.”
Meanwhile in Morocco, machines supplied by Volvo CE’s
Chinese joint venture SDLG are helping on the construction of
the country’s first high-speed rail line.
Mixed region
Liebherr introduced the 50 tonne
class R 956 excavator (pictured) and
60 tonne class R 960 for the North
African market.
Gaby Rhayem,
regional director
for Doosan
Construction
Equipment in
Middle East and
Africa, said the
North African
market as a
whole was still
very active.
