East Africa Accounted for 15 Percent of Total Construction Projects in Africa in 2016

The East African region accounted for 15 percent of the total construction projects in Africa, amounting to 8.5 percent of the total value of projects last year.

According to the Africa Construction Report for 2016, Kenya, with 11 projects, had the largest number of infrastructure projects in the region, being 25.6 percent of the total. Ethiopia and Uganda each had 9 projects while Tanzania had 8 projects.

The region which includes Kenya, Tanzania, Rwanda, Burundi, Uganda, Ethiopia, Eritrea, Djibouti, Somalia, Comoros and Seychelles, had 43 projects valued at US$27.4bn.

In Tanzania, the suspension of the Bagamoyo Port Project which was valued at US$11, caused a significant reduction in the total value of projects in the East Africa region.

Transport, Energy and Power, and Real Estate sectors have accounted for the largest percentage of all the projects. Transportation projects took the largest percentage at 46.5 percent with 15 roads and bridge projects.

Energy and Power made up for 25.6 percent of the projects amounting to over US$10.7bn of investments of which US$8.4bn went to renewable energy projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, valued at US$4.1bn and this, the largest project in the region. Real estate made for 11.6 percent of the total projects.

Ownership of the projects belongs mainly to governments, at 86 percent, private domestic companies own only 2.3 percent while the remainder 11.6 percent are owned by companies from Britain, Germany, Singapore, South Africa and Lebanon.

In terms of funding, the major sources of funds were China and African Direct Foreign Investments which proportionately provided 46.6 percent of the funds. International Direct Foreign Investments accounted for 18.6 percent of the funding while Lebanon, Switzerland, Turkey, the US and UK together contributed 14 percent of the funds. The Government contributed 11.6 percent of the funds while the EU and Private domestic funds each contributed 4.7 percent.

Chinese companies were the most visible, building up to 41.9 percent of all projects in the region. Domestic companies were involved in 25.6 percent of the projects. Other countries with contractors in the region include the US, Japan, South Korea, Turkey and others.