In
2014, the rate of construction industry investment experienced strong growth:
+46.2%, an increase of about 100 billion dollars compared to 222 billion in
2013. In just one year, the average value invested per project doubled, from 689
million to 1.27 billion. Until just a few years ago, governments found
themselves alone against the huge expense construction represents. But the
situation has clearly changed.
Who are the players that have contributed to supporting
investment growth?
Establishing the PPP, public/private partnership
In
more than 20% of cases, governments are the investors in the construction sector.
However, unable to carry the huge expenses required for the construction of
infrastructure, African governments are increasingly turning toward shared
investment solutions. Thus for eight years, Morocco has held the Forum Africain
des Infrastructures: several days of panel discussions, sharing successful
experiences and facilitating meetings between governments and investors. At the
eighth edition, Morocco and Tunisia have returned to PPP, allowing the state to
reach an agreement with a private investor to carry out a project.
Between
2007 and 2015, Tunisia built the new Enfhida-Hammamet airport. Already
developed in countries such as Senegal and Côte d’Ivoire, these partnerships
can be indispensable for the realization of development-related infrastructure.
National and international private investors
Some
consider the Africa today like China in the 1980s, with a huge potential for
profit. Thus, if international investors have sometimes cast aside projects in
Africa, they seem to be returning to the charge. This is the case with foreign
companies that regularly subcontract to other companies like Imperial Construction,
the Chadian company that is part of the Oum Alkheir Holding group of the young entrepreneur,
Ibrahim Hissein Bourma. In early 2016, Chad received Chinese investors who,
after meeting with the government, announced their desire to create a subsidiary
in Chad in order to take part in its development.
International development institutions
On
their own, international institutions represent about one quarter of investments
in the form of loans and technical assistance. In the CEMAC zone, for example,
which is made up of Cameroon,
Congo, Gabon, Equatorial Guinea, the Central African Republic and Chad, the Banque de Développement des États de l’Afrique Centrale (BDEAC) can
prove invaluable. Since November 2015, the BDEAC has granted Chad a loan of
some 70 billion CFA francs for the construction and paving of the Kyabé-Singako
(72.3 kilometers) and Kélo-Pala (109 kilometers) roads, and to establish
standards in airport hubs. Good news for Chadian companies such as Oum Alkheir
Holding, specialists in construction, earthmoving, and road development.
Thus
today, several actors allow African states to expand their infrastructure. In
countries where much remains to be done, there is no risk of the construction
market falling into despair.
