The Civil Engineering Contractor February 2018 | Page 10

INFRASTRUCTURE AFRICA

WEST AFRICA

SENEGAL

Senegal’ s largest airport

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Built on a 4 500ha land area, AIBD will have an initial capacity of three million passengers per year, increasing to 10 million.

Blaise Diagne International( AIBD) will take over services from Senegal’ s flagship airport, Léopold Sédar Senghor International, in capital city Dakar, which is due to cease operations once the project is completed. Unlike many airports in Africa that are normally located near the capital, this new airport is located in rural Diass, about 40km east of Dakar. Its location was based on the need for space and diversification of the economy out of the capital Dakar.“ The idea is to see if we could drag economic activities out of Dakar,” says AIBD deputy director general El Hadji Ibrahima Mané.“ New infrastructure is essential to this ambition,” he added. Built on a 4 500ha land area, AIBD will have an initial capacity of three million passengers per year, increasing to 10 million.

The new facility is also designed to accommodate larger planes like the Airbus A380. The airport project will cost USD400-million. Mooted in 2007, the construction of the airport has been hit by delays related to land compensation and other financial issues, including challenges with the Saudi contractor who was dismissed and replaced with a Turkish company to finish the works.

EAST AFRICA

ERITREA

USD98.6m power plant realised in Eritrea

Hirgigo Power Plant, a project worth USD98.6-million, has recently been set up in Eritrea to boost the electric power supply by 60 %. Implementation and upgrade of the project to 46MW will be undertaken by Chinese company SFECO. At the handing over ceremony, in which Abraha Asfeha, minister of Public Works; Hagos Gebrehiwe, head of PFDJ Economic Affairs; and other senior government and Front officials were present, Gen. Sebhat Efrem, minister of Energy and Mining, said the installation of the generators is part of the huge investment that the government is making to ensure power supply in the country. He also commended the Chinese company for the timely implementation of the project and applauded them for maintaining the existing generators in partnership with Eritrean experts. The ambassador of the People’ s Republic of China, Yang Zigang, indicated that the installation of the two new generators attests to the growing mutual cooperation between the two countries. The general manager of SFECO, Chen Yu, said that the company is proud to participate in the development programmes in Eritrea and commended the support they have

Mereja. com received from the different stakeholders. In conclusion, Abraham Woldemicael, general manager of Eritrean Electric Corporation, said that the installation of the generators, coupled with the ongoing other projects, will contribute to augment the capacity of power supply at national level.

Hirgigo Power Plant will boost Eritrea’ s electric power supply by 60 %.

8- CEC February 2018