Kenya dominates EA as a mega projects powerhouse.

By Wycliffe

Kenya leads the East African frontier in mega infrastructure projects, report by Deloitte Africa reveals. Kenya emerged first out of over 10 countries surveyed, leading the bandwagon with a total of 11 colossal projects.

According to the report “Deloitte Africa Construction Trends 2016’’, Kenya’s rank as an infrastructure powerhouse has been catalyzed by its overwhelming appetite for multi-million projects in both public and private sectors. The total cost of the 11 concurrent projects is Ksh.813bn ($7.9bn) which is equivalent to about 25.6 per cent of total investments in East Africa.

Kenya is buoyed by its mega projects which include the Standard Gauge Railway that costs sh.391bn, Tatu City project at sh. 216bn, Lappset project at sh. 103bn and Lake Turkana Wind Power project at sh. 93bn. The SGR marks the largest public investment while the Lake Turkana Wind project represents the single largest private investment in the country. ‘’ Once completed, Lake Turkana project  will provide 310 megawatts of power to the grid, approximately 18 per cent of Kenya’s installed capacity,” the firm stated.

Lake Turkana Wind Power project. It is the largest single private investment in Kenya

After Kenya, comes Ethiopia and Uganda with nine projects each followed by Tanzania with eight projects. “With 43 projects valued at $27.4 billion (Sh2.84 trillion), East Africa is home to 15 per cent of construction projects in Africa,” said John-Pierre Labuschagne, Deloitte Africa Construction Trends Report Project Leader. Ideally, Africa has witnessed an upsurge in power projects narrowly followed by transport infrastructure projects. The report covered Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Rwanda, Ethiopia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Comoros, Seychelles, Burundi and Somali.

Ethiopia’s catalogue of projects include Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam Energy and Power which costs sh.422bn which is projected to produce 6000MW by 2025, followed by Awash-Woldia-Hara-Gebeya at $1.7bn (sh. 175bn) and Mekelle-Hara-Gebeya-Woldia rail project that costs $1.5bn (sh.154bn).Uganda has only two power projects; Karuma Hydropower Plant Energy and Power at sh.227bn and Isimba Hydropower plant Energy and Power at $o.6bn (sh.62bn) while Tanzania has Mtwara Gas Energy and Power at a cost of $1.3 (sh.134bn).

According to the report, transport sector accounts for only 47 per cent of projects, which go hand in hand with power and energy projects as key drivers of East Africa’s economy. “There are 15 roads and bridges that are currently underway, while energy and power projects account for over a quarter of all projects in the region worth $10.7bn (sh.1.12 trillion).

In Deloitte’s last report on construction trends, South Africa emerged the single country with the highest number of projects 41, followed by Nigeria with 38.