Infrastructure Brief

News and opinion on public works procurement

Africa

  • Africa|
  • Featured|
  • Tanzania News

    • Tanzania Economy Rebounds; IMF Predicts 6% Growth

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    By Peter Orengo

    The International Monetary Fund (IMF) says Tanzania’s economy has rebounded and the projected growth is estimated at six per cent in 2020.

    This would be an improvement over the four percent growth the Fund had projected for the country last year.

    However, this latest IMF projection is still below the seven per cent growth that is currently quoted in government reports.

    The Washington, DC-based IMF also said yesterday that Tanzania had made prudent monetary and fiscal policies in recent times.

    This was after the development partner completed its 2020 Article IV Mission to the country on Wednesday this week. The Mission noted some progress in private investment and jobs creation. However, it stressed that there is a pressing need for targeted economic reforms to be implemented soonest.

    The report also emphasized urgency in adhering to efficient means of tax collection and control, notably through the use of risk-based audits.

    “This would ensure better compliance and timely payment of tax refunds, as well as improve companies’ cash flows,” he said in a statement posted on IMF’s website.

    The report further says that there is a significant and immediate revenue potential from the expansion in the number of taxpayers, together with improvements in tax administration and compliance in line with established protocols and regulations.

    The report also suggests implementation of planned measures to clear the backlog of expenditure arrears, account for them on a timely basis – and prevent the accumulation of new ones.

    This, the report says, will be essential to improve businesses’ cash flows, ensure that bank loans are repaid on time, and sustain economic activity.

  • Africa|
  • Public Spaces|
  • Uganda News|
  • Water

    • Jinja Opens Spill Gates To Control Rising Water Levels

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    By Peter Orengo

    Authorities in Jinja have opened spill gates to control rising water levels at Kiira and Nalubale dams.

    The exercise, which commenced on February 28, involves releasing water from the lake.

    The operations manager for Eskom Uganda Ltd (EUL), Mr Peter Tentena, on Sunday said the directorate of water resources and management in the Ministry of Water and Environment permitted them to spill the water at the dams.

    Mr Tentena said they started the exercise at Nalubaale dam (old dam) but they were further authorised to do the same at Kiira dam.

    “The main objective is to control water levels which has been rising. We shall spill the water for about seven days as we study the impact on the lake and people,” he said.

    Mr Tentena said their target is to release 256 cubic metres of water per second.

    “Since we started the exercise, we have been releasing 156 cubic metres of water. Average flow is about 256 cubic metres per second,” he said.

    Data from EUL indicates that each of the three spill way gates at Kiira dam is able to release 500 cubic metres per second at maximum.

    Mr Tentena said the increasing water levels is usually driven by rainfall received in the lake.

    The managing director of EUL, Ms Thozama Gangi, said the spill gates were designed to control flooding.

    “Currently, there is no threat to the plant. When water levels are increasing, we can open them so that we make sure operations continue because we don’t want water to go above the dam,” she said. Ms Thozama said the same incident happened 50 years ago.

    The acting board chairperson of Uganda Electricity Generation Company Ltd, Dr Peter Kimbowa, said the process will not affect residents and other activities.

    “There are ways to treat that overflow without causing any problem to the generation system, generation output, environment, and the eco-system,” he said.

    According to the press statement from EUL, water levels in the lake have been rising since October 2019.

  • Africa|
  • Featured|
  • Kenya News

    • Kenya Looks To Small Scale Enterprises For Potential Economic Drive

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    By Peter Orengo

    Kenya is seeing a lot of potential in small scale enterprises as a major economic driver.

    This was revealed at the recent small and medium enterprises expo hosted by the National Media Group two weeks.

    The forum highlighted not only the challenges that the SMEs face, but also the opportunities that are available for them.

    However, it is apparent that overall the SMEs challenges far outweigh the opportunities. This calls for concerted and coordinated effort by all those responsible with coming up with solutions that will ensure that this crucial engine of economic growth is afforded a conducive environment to thrive.

    Numerous setbacks were pointed out at the expo, hosted by NMG in partnership with the Kenya National Chamber of commerce and Industry (KNCCI). The prominent of these challenges are the lack of credit access and the inefficacy of agencies mandated to unlock the potential of SMEs.

    But these are hardly the only hurdles standing in the way of a vibrant SMEs sector and an entrepreneurial culture. Other major setbacks include market access both local and internationally, unpredictable regulatory and business environment, multiple charges and levies by industry regulators and counties, competition from uncontrolled imports, influx of counterfeits and lack of subsidies to support SME exporters and access to technology.

    It is time the sector was accorded the attention it deserves. It is ironic that SMEs have been neglected yet they are easily the strongest pillar of the economy going by statistics that indicate the segment creates jobs for more than 80 percent of the working population, and is responsible for 33.8 percent of the economic growth, according to data by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics.

  • Africa|
  • Energy|
  • Tanzania News

    • Tazara Impresses Delta Energy For Delivering 1 Million Litres Of Oil

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    By Peter Orengo

    Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority and Zambia Railways Ltd have delivered an initial shipment of 1·1 million litres of oil from the port of Dar es Salaam in Tanzania to New Kapiri Mposhi in Zambia under an agreement with Delta Energy Zambia which covers up to 6 million litres/month.

    TAZARA said the 24-wagon train which took four days was the equivalent to more than 40 lorries, which would have taken at least 14 days by road.

    SNCF’s rolling motorway business VIIA has launched the VIIA Drive multi-lingual app to save lorry drivers and customers time at terminals and provide real-time information about the availability of semi-trailers.

    Users can generate a preregistration QR code that gives them access to the platform, and allows them to locate, pick up or drop off the semi-trailer quickly. A geolocation tool and history of drop-offs and pick-ups are also available.

  • Africa|
  • Kenya News|
  • Transportation

    • Lawsuit Claims Safaricom’s Deal with Kenya Airports Authority is Non-Competitive

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    By Kenneth Mwangi

    For those travelers passing through Jomo Kenyatta International Airport, one of the busiest in East Africa, signing onto the wifi to get online is one of the most important amenities available. But now, according to a lawsuit, it is coming to light that the Kenya Airport Authority’s deal with Safaricom to provide these WiFi services may not have been subject to a transparent tender process.

    Internet Solutions Limited, with a presence in African countries, has filed a lawsuit against the Kenya Airports Authority (KAA), demanding that the High Court move to order the Public Procurement and Administrative Review Board to revoke the tender.

    The lawsuit claims Safaricom was offered the deal and bid for the contract when its licence as an ICT service provider had expired.

    The company has listed KAA, Safaricom as well as other firms that participated in the tender — Encapsulated limited and Simbanet Ltd — as interested parties.

    Through lawyer Apollo Mboya, the firm says that Safaricom was not a locally registered ICT service provider at the time it was bidding for the tender for maintenance of wireless passenger internet at KAA.

    The firm claims that Safaricom’s accreditation by the ICT Authority to provide such services to government had expired on October 23 last year.

    The tender evaluation happened after the expiry, the company says.

    While the procurement review board had found that the notification letters to bidders were null and void as well as contrary to the Public Procurement and Assets Disposal Act, which require the accounting officers of the procuring entity to issue them, the firm faulted it for going ahead to award the tender to Safaricom.

    The firm is also accusing KAA and the review board of acting unlawfully and failing to conform to all the requirements in the tender documents owing to the disputed decision which was rendered on February 12.

    “KAA and Safaricom may enter into a contract at any time, seal the deal and render this suit nugatory, it is in the interest of the public that this suit be heard expeditiously to safeguard public funds,” said Mr Mboya.

    Internet Solutions says it was locked out for failing to provide academic qualification of its team leader as well as four onsite personnel based at Jomo Kenyatta International Airport to be on shift basis.

  • Africa|
  • Energy|
  • Project Updates

    • Comesa Moves In To Handle Energy Crisis In The Region

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    By Peter Orengo

    The East African regional bloc, Comesa, is working with member countries to address the energy deficit that has affected economic activities across the board.

    In addition to improvement of the power generation which has boosted the capacity in the region to 92, 000 megawatts (MW) with thermal energy dominating the and accounting for 30%, efforts are directed towards other areas.

    The region is planning to move and evacuate energy efficiently from areas of production and surpluses to areas of deficit, domestically or across borders by investing in transport corridors of energy trade through transmission inter-connectors and pipelines.

    Also in the plans is the Cape to Cairo electricity corridor being implemented through the Zambia-Tanzania-Kenya (ZTK) power inter-connector project.

    This project will interconnect the Southern Africa Power Pool and East Africa Power Pool, enhance and pave the way for a competitive regional power market.

    “In particular, we are focusing on guidelines relating to renewable energy such as Feed-in-Tariff, Power Purchase Agreement, Public-Private Partnerships, Joint Development of Projects, Framework on Off-Grid Electrification, and Best Regulatory Practices for renewable energy development, which COMESA recently developed and adopted,” he said.

    The details of the plan was disclosed during the 9th Annual General Meeting of the COMESA Regional Association of Energy Regulators for Eastern and Southern Africa (RAERESA) that began in Addis Ababa.

    According to a press statement that was sent to East African Business Week, the Chairperson of RAERESA Dr Fredrick Nyang told delegates that the main challenge for many COMESA countries is that generation capacity is not enough to cover the nations own needs and allow for cross-border trade.

    “Even though there are plans underway to improve the transmission capacity across borders, there is not yet enough transmission capacity to secure an unimpeded trade across the countries and regions,” he said.

    Sixteen countries including Ethiopia, Burundi, Egypt, Kenya, Madagascar, Malawi, Mauritius, Rwanda, Seychelles, Sudan, Uganda, Zambia, Djibouti, Eritrea, Somalia and Tunisia attended the AGM.

    Ethiopian State Minister of Water, Irrigation and Energy H.E Dr Frehiwot Woldehana who opened the meeting observed that approaches are needed to increase generation capacity and minimize the current system losses of electricity.

    He noted that Africa was losing 12.5% of production time as a result of chronic power outages thus holding back the continent’s potential for growth.

    Citing recent studies, the Minister said the low levels of competitiveness of countries in the local and regional markets was due to lack of adequate infrastructure in energy in the COMESA region.

    “Our region is a paradox of energy, richly endowed with power generating natural resources of which only a few are harnessed, thus resulting in severe power shortfalls.

    “We must tap our indigenous resources so that we are not dependent upon imports of fuel to light our cities and power our growth.” the Minister said.

    Assistant Secretary of Programme, in COMESA Dr Kipyego Cheluget, told the meeting that the regional bloc will continue supporting energy security enhancement in the region by facilitating domestication of adopted energy regulation instruments.

    The Chairperson of RAERESA, Dr Fredrick Nyang invited the COMESA Member States that have not joined the regional association of energy regulators to do so, to enhance the sustainability of the regional energy market, through a harmonized regulatory framework.

  • Africa|
  • Featured|
  • Uganda News

    • Experts Predict Uganda’s Shilling Continues Weaken

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    By Peter Orengo

    Economic experts are predicting that the Ugandan currency will continue to succumb to pressure against major international currencies in the wake of dividend payouts.

    The local economists state that the shilling is seen trading with a weakening bias on the back of foreign-owned firms buying hard currency to meet last year’s dividend payout obligations.

    At 0920 GMT commercial banks quoted the shilling at 3,705/3,715, compared with last Thursday’s close of 3,710/3,720.

    “We’re in the dividends season. There’s a bit of pressure weighing on the shilling and that will continue for the next few weeks,” Faisal Bukenya, managing director at Pay Uganda, an independent foreign exchange dealer in Uganda’s capital Kampala has said.

    He said the local currency would likely oscillate in the range of 3,700-3,725 in the coming week.

  • Africa|
  • Energy|
  • Tanzania News

    • Tanzania’s $3 Billion Julius Nyerere Hydro-Power Station On Course

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    By Peter Orengo

    The battle to serve its people with electricity and sufficient energy continues in sub saharan Africa.

    Most countries are faced with a huge electricity deficit. And projects have been devised to arrest the situation.

    In Tanzania, the government of John Pombe Magufuli is focusing on the implementation of the Julius Nyerere hydropower project that will cost $3 billion.

    A cabinet officials says the project is on course.

    “Implementation of the project is going well and we hope that the project will be completed one month before the scheduled June 14, 2022,” Minister for Energy Medard Kalemani told members of the parliamentary standing committee on budget oversight in Morogoro.

    The minister said the only challenge facing the implementation of the project was the ongoing rains but he was optimistic that infrastructure put in place will not derail construction works.

    He said most of the construction materials were being ferried to the site by the Tanzania-Zambia Railway Authority, adding that a road from a railway station to the construction location was in good condition.

    The official construction of the project aimed at promoting the country’s socioeconomic growth was launched by President John Magufuli in July 2019.

  • Africa|
  • Featured|
  • Transportation

    • Ethiopia Refuse To BoyCott China Route In Era Of Coronavirus

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    By Peter Orengo

    Ethiopia Airlines will not join Kenya Airways and RwandaAir in suspending flights to China in the wake of the Coronavirus.

    Numerous airlines have suspended flights to China as part of combating a fast spreading disease which has killed over a 1000 people worldwide.

    The CEO of Ethiopia’s flag carrier, Ethiopian Airlines (ET) Tewolde Gebremariam on Wednesday said stopping flights to China is not a solution to fight novel coronavirus.

    Speaking at the 5th Africa Aviation conference being held in the Ethiopian capital Addis Ababa, Gebremariam said the novel coronavirus transmission won’t be prevented by stopping direct flights to China.

    “Flying direct to China doesn’t mean we will stop novel coronavirus, because passengers from China can travel to African countries including Ethiopia through various other hubs. That’s what the interconnected world means.”

    “As per the directive of the World Health Organization (WHO), stopping flights isn’t the answer. Isolating China because it has novel coronavirus outbreak isn’t fair,” said Gebremariam.

    However, the ET CEO admitted the novel coronavirus disease is a major headache for Africa’s largest airlines with more than 120 international destinations.

    “We’ve seen a 20 percent decline in demand. It’s a big shock, but aviation is used to this kind of shock. Diseases, natural disasters, wars, sudden spikes in oil prices, we’re used to it.”

    Mr. Gebremariam’s comments come as the International Air Transport Association (IATA) projected a $29 billion hit to the global aviation industry – a 4.7% industry-wide drop in revenue per passenger – as a result of the coronavirus outbreak. The IATA says African air carriers could see a potential $40 million loss.

    That could be a devastating blow to struggling airlines that need lucrative Chinese routes to fund expansion.

    On Tuesday, Kenya halted direct flights from Italy’s northern cities of Verona and Milan, which usually head to the Kenyan coast. Northern Italy has seen Europe’s biggest cluster of coronavirus cases.

    Last month, Kenya Airways and RwandAir suspended all flights to and from China until further notice.

  • Africa|
  • ICT|
  • Tanzania News|
  • Tenders

    • Tanzania’s Central Bank Targets Mobile Platforms For Retail Investors

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    By Peter Orengo

    Tanzania’s Central Bank is responding to the ICT era by targeting to introduce a mobile platform that will capture retail investors.

    The Bank of Tanzania (BoT) is planning to introduce a mobile platform that will enable retail investors to apply for and trade treasury bills and bonds.

    The central bank said the platform is expected within this year after working out a methodology with stakeholders.

    The plan centered on reaching mass participation for retail investors on bills and bonds but also reducing the low amount of tender to 100,000/- from the current 500,000/-.

    Bank of Tanzania’s Manager of Financial Markets, Lameck Kakula, said next month they expect to meet stakeholders including mobile network operators to map out a way forward.

    “We are working with FSDT [Financial Sector Deepening Trust) in introducing the platform….this will enable more players to buy government securities,” Mr Kakula said during five-day BoT’s media seminar.

    Currently, he said, they are working on stage requirement system of the mobile bidding platform for bonds before launching the initiative.

    “April [next month] we will meet with stakeholders to map out process requirements and document them.

    “We’ll be in a better picture after the April meeting…but we want to launch the platform this year,” Mr Kakula said.

    The plan could potentially take investing in treasuries to the mass market by eliminating the friction in the current market infrastructure.

    “The central bank aims at creating a simple platform where retail investors will tender directly without a third part using their mobile phones,” Mr Kakula said.

    Process requirements are documented expectations, targets and specifications for business/service processes.

    They may be collected from multiple groups of stakeholders such as business units, customers, internal customers, users and subject matter experts.

    Data from BoT showed that the number of individual investors increased from 2.0 per cent in Q2 of 2018 to 6.0 per cent in Q2 last year.

    Mr Kakula said in Kenya through the Central Bank of Kenya (CBK) introduced such services of using mobile phones mid last month.

    Under Kenya’s platform the new service will make it easier to process transactions of Ksh 140,000 (8.2m/-) and below.

    “The bank is pleased to inform you about the roll-out of the Treasury Mobile Direct (TMD) services, designed to facilitate investment in government securities using the mobile telephone,” CBK said in a notice to investors last month.