Africa is quietly going about improving and upgrading its airport infrastructure, although you could be forgiven for not knowing about it, as the host of development projects going on across the continent appear to have gone almost unnoticed by the rest of the world. While both political and economic progress has played out very unevenly across the continent, an increasing number of African countries have reformed their administrative processes in order to foster economic development and to become more competitive on the world stage. Airports, of course, play a key role in meeting the aspirations of progressive nations, perhaps more so on this continent than elsewhere, owing to underdeveloped road and rail networks in much of Africa.
South Africa represents the continent’s largest economy and has the best transportation infrastructure, with many of its airports having benefitted from major investment prior to the FIFA World Cup games in 2010. Indeed, South African airports continue to dominate Airports Council International’s annual Airport Service Quality (ASQ) awards – claiming three of the top five places in the Africa region in 2011 (Cape Town, OR Tambo in Johannesburg and King Shaka in Durban), while George Airport scooped the Africa regional award for airports handling under 2mppa, and Cape Town won Africa’s ‘Biggest Improvement’ by region award.
Elsewhere, resource-rich Nigeria has initiated airport development throughout the country, and other nations with big plans for their aviation infrastructure include Kenya, Mozambique, Rwanda, Senegal and Sudan. The list of planned, soon-to-be-started or ongoing projects below clearly shows that Africa is on the move:
Algeria
About $557 million will be devoted to finance some 30 projects for developing the country’s airport infrastructures, part of the 2010–2014 development programme, according to the Ministry of Public Works. The projects include a 500m extension to the runway at Setif Airport, reinforcing of the main runway pavement of Houari Boumediene International Airport in Algiers and creating additional aircraft parking areas at Annaba Airport.
Burundi
A Burundian-Swedish consortium is set to deliver a master plan to upgrade national civil aviation services at Bujumbura International Airport and some regional airports in the Central African state. “The contract represents a breakthrough for Swedish investments in the country,” states Lasse Håkansson, managing director for LFV Aviation Consulting, the project partner. The contract was successfully tendered, with international competitors as bidders, and is entirely financed through Burundi’s national budget. The work dedicated to the master plan signifies the first phase in a wider investment programme, which will be defined and procured with regard to the commercial operation and management of Burundi’s airports.
Egypt
The joint venture of the Turkish construction firm Limak and India’s GMR Group has been awarded the contract to expand Cairo International Airport’s Terminal 2. The $387 million project, which is being financed by the World Bank and is expected to start this year and last three years, will more than double the capacity of the terminal from 3.5mppa to 7.5mppa.
Ethiopia
Ethiopian Airports Enterprise has unveiled plans to begin a $27.9 million expansion project at Addis Ababa’s Bole International Airport. The project will take two years to complete and is intended to address air traffic congestion at the airport due to international traffic growth.
Kenya
Nairobi’s Jomo Kenyatta International Airport plans to complete construction of a new $500 million terminal this year to meet a forecast increase in passenger numbers. The terminal, the first expansion at the airport since 1978, will have the capacity to handle 20mppa, according to the chairman of the Kenya Airports Authority, Martin Wambora. The airport is forecast to handle 38mppa by 2030.
Libya
The Odebrecht-TAV-CCC joint venture has resumed construction of the new 175,000sqm passenger complex at Tripoli Airport. Construction of twin terminals capable of handling up to 20mppa was temporarily halted due to the recent conflict in the country.
Mayotte
SNC–Lavalin has been awarded a 15-year concession contract to operate Dzaoudzi Pamandzi International Airport on the small French island of Mayotte in the Indian Ocean. It has also been given the contract to build the airport’s new terminal building and upgrade the existing infrastructure. The new airport terminal, scheduled to be completed by the beginning of 2013, is expected to cost €45 million, and will include a restaurant area as well as a large commercial area.
Mozambique
Chinese construction firm Anhui Foreign Economic Construction (Group) Co Ltd (AFECC) has been awarded a $70 million contract to build a new terminal at Maputo International Airport in readiness for a late 2012 opening. Elsewhere, Aeroportos de Moçambique (AdM) has unveiled a blueprint for a new international airport at Pemba after abandoning plans to refurbish and enhance the existing airport. According to António Loureiro, head of the AdM project, the new $300 million international airport will be equipped to handle 500,000 passengers per annum and is likely to be built under concession. As part of the government’s highly ambitious five-year plan to modernise the country’s aviation infrastructure, AdM also intends to transform Nacala military base in northern Mozambique and Vilanculos aerodrome in the southern province of Inhambane into international gateways, the former coming with a projected price tag of $110 million. There are also proposals to upgrade the airports of Beira, Chimoio, Tete and Quelimane in central Mozambique.
Namibia
The Namibia Airports Company (NAC) will invest €120 million on planned or ongoing projects over the next five years, which include runway rehabilitation and a new arrivals terminal at Windhoek–Hosea Kutako and building new passenger terminals at Walvis Bay and Ondangwa.
Nigeria
In late 2010, the Ministry of Aviation announced that it was embarking on a “total remodelling” of the five major airports in the country. According to the Ministry, the development, which is part of measures to address the level of infrastructural decay across Nigerian airports, is also aimed at repositioning and refocusing the country’s aviation sector for better performance, considering the critical role the industry plays in the economy of the nation. “With the Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria in the driving seat, we are embarking on aggressive airports infrastructural development and remodelling,” said Minister of Aviation, Fidelia Njeze.
Réunion
Egis Avia is in charge of managing the extension of Saint–Denis Roland Garros International Airport in the French overseas territory. The Chamber of Commerce & Industry of Réunion manages and operates the airport in the north of the island. Works will be carried out and split into four different phases, with the next expected deadlines in 2015 and 2020. The project is also preparing the ground for the airport to accommodate larger aircraft such as the A380, which were expected to start operating to Réunion in 2014, but which has been delayed after local carrier Air Austral deferred its aircraft order.
Rwanda
In 2010, Rwanda’s Infrastructure Minister, Vincent Karega, announced that everything was in place to attract investors to partner the government in financing and building capital city Kigali’s planned new $700 million gateway. It is estimated that once complete, Bugesera International Airport will be capable of handling up to 1mppa.
Senegal
Senegal has secured $560 million in long-term financing for the construction of the new Blaise Diagne International Airport, 45km east of Dakar. According to the Senegalese government, funding will come from the African Development Bank, the French Development Agency, the West African Development Bank and other banks in South Africa, Canada and Saudi Arabia. The airport will replace the current Léopold Sédar Senghor International Airport in Yoff, Dakar and is being built to meet projected traffic demand. When completed, it will be able to handle 3mppa and 80,000 aircraft movements each year, which is expected to relieve the air and road congestion at the existing Dakar airport. Initially, a 42,000sqm terminal, double the size of the existing one, will be built on two levels and will have direct access to six gangways.
Sierra Leone
Sierra Leone has embarked on a $13 million runway rehabilitation project at Lungi International Airport in Port Loko District and plans to upgrade the Aberdeen helipad in Freetown. According to Sierra Leone Airport Authority (SLAA) general manager John Sesay, the Lungi runway is being handled by Lagan Construction Company of Northern Ireland. Funding for the project has been provided by the World Bank.
Sudan
The Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development has signed two concessional loan agreements with Sudan worth $360 million to help to fund a gateway for capital Khartoum and two dams in eastern Sudan. The airport – which Khartoum hopes will become a regional hub – will cost about $2 billion and be equipped to handle 6.5 million passengers and 300,000 tonnes of cargo per annum. After securing the $1.2 billion in total needed for the first phase of the project, Sudan will invite bids from interested companies. The first phase is due for completion by the end of 2014, which would allow for the transfer of all flights from the existing 65-year-old airport to the new one early the following year. Several other regional funds have pledged to give loans to the project, including the Saudi Fund for Development, the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, the Export-Import Bank of China and the Export Credit Bank of Turkey.
Swaziland
Work on Swaziland’s new $150 million Sikhuphe International Airport is underway, according to the country’s Civil Aviation Authority. The airport, located 40 minutes by road from the commercial centre of Manzini, will replace today’s Matsapha International Airport, which serves largely as a charter airport for small regional carriers such as SA Airlink. The new airport will be able to handle up to 300,000 passengers per year and have a 3,600m CAT1 runway capable of handling aircraft up to the size of the B747. It is part of King Mswati III’s $1 billion millennium investment initiative to enhance Swaziland’s position as a tourist destination.
Tanzania
A fourth international airport, currently being built at Songwe in Mbeya Region, is reportedly near to completion. Deputy Minister for Works (Roads & Airports) Dr Harrison Mwakyembe claims that the $12 million airport would open Tanzania to central and southern African countries. The airport will have a 3,300m runway capable of accommodating B737 size aircraft. The Tanzanian government, with the help of a $4.6 million loan from the OPEC Fund for International Development, has met 55 per cent of the cost of the new airport, with the remainder coming from foreign investors. The new airport is in line with the government’s initiative to improve the efficiency and safety of air traffic in the country. Tanzania’s three other international airports are Dar es Salaam–Mwalimu Julius Nyerere Airport, Kilimanjaro and Zanzibar.
Togo
The Togolese government has announced plans for the introduction of a new passenger tax to fund the development of airport infrastructure. It says the tax will be used to rehabilitate and modernise Lomé-Gnassingbé Eyadéma International Airport, with projects that include the construction of a new terminal. According to the government, airline companies operating in the country have already agreed to the introduction of the tax, which conforms to ICAO policy.
Tunisia
The TAV Airports Holding built and operated Enfidha-Hammamet International Airport has been called “an architectural and aesthetic wonder” by the Tunisian government. The 90,000sqm terminal is designed to accommodate 7mppa, although with future expansion could eventually handle up to 22mppa. All seven other Tunisian airports together have an annual capacity to handle just over 14 million passengers.
Uganda
Uganda’s Entebbe International Airport is set to get a new 36km toll road to capital Kampala, courtesy of Chinese investors. According to the east African country’s finance minister, Syda Bbumba, the Chinese government has pledged to invest $350 million in the project, which will relieve traffic congestion on existing roads. It is thought that the Chinese government will build the new toll road using concessionary loans from the Export-Import Bank of China. China is a main source of foreign direct investment in Uganda, East Africa’s third-biggest economy, where commercially viable oil deposits have been discovered, according to the Uganda Investment Authority.
Zambia
Lusaka International Airport is to be revamped in order to meet fresh challenges. Under the plan, it will be refurbished to international standards and will have new international and domestic terminal buildings. Work at the country’s primary gateway will include construction of parking garages and hotels. A public private partnership (PPP) unit in the Ministry of Finance and National Planning has carried out initial conceptual work and a master plan is expected to follow.
This story appears in the latest issue of Routes News, which can be read here Routes News. A copy of the world air service development magazine is also in all delegate bags at Routes Africa.
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