North-South Africa Corridor

North-South Africa Corridor

“The US$11 billion North-South Africa Corridor is an ambitious attempt to connect eight African countries with more than 10,000 kilometres of roads. Stretching from South Africa to Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, and from Botswana to Malawi, the route will boost cross-border trade and tourism. Bidding for tenders started in mid-2014, with the overall project run by a ‘tripartite’ of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa, the East African Community and the Southern African Development Community. Funding is‑likely to come from a wide variety of development partners including national governments and the World Bank” (KPMC).

The advantages for this program include combining large investments in the infrastructure which develops the economic background of the region, helps in facilating between trade and transportation between the respective countries, help in working with multiple stakeholders- RECs, national government, private sector and seeks to help the public in the end.

China’s Sky City

China’s Sky City

Apart from improving major areas such as Shanghai and Beijing, China is trying to infuse development into other nearby regions such as Hunan. One such project they are doing is called the Sky City. A proposed skyscraper, supposedly more than 800 meters tall, which would make it the tallest building in the world upon completion.

“The building will boast 202 floors, with 90% of materials pre-fabricated off site and then assembled in 90 days, a feat of construction never seen before. The mass of floor space, over 1 million m², will largely be for residential purposes; a planned 5000 residential properties will be able to accommodate over 30,000 citizens. Sky City will also offer a 1000 room hotel, 5 schools, vast office and retail space, basketball and tennis courts as well as 4 helipads. The citizens and visitors will be transported by 104 high speed elevators, taking a number of minutes to get from top to bottom” (DAC).

Yet, there is a lot of criticism facing this project. For one, many are questioning its relevance in the city when other global centres such as Seoul seem to be thriving without any major skyscraper. The developer has been criticized for its lack of experience in erecting tall buildings.

KivuWatt Power Station

KivuWatt Power Station

The KivuWatt Power Station is a 26 MW methane gas-powered thermal plant in Rwanda. It is located approximately 130 kilometres from Kigali, the capital. The project would extract power from Lake Kiwu and use the gas to generate power. The project costed $ 200 million, and is expected to generate 26 MW power, while it is expanded to 100 MW later. At present, the project is expected to help 45,000 people. Construction concluded in November 2015 and the power station was under testing from November 2015 until commissioning in June 2016. The KivuWatt power plant was inaugurated by Rwanda's president Kagame on 16 May 2016.

“Lake Kivu is probably Rwanda’s greatest natural resource but also its biggest liability, as it can spontaneously erupt carbon dioxide and methane, with disastrous effects on the local environment. KivuWatt is a unique new 100 MW power plant on the lake shore, which extracts the methane to generate electricity. At US$92 million, this is Rwanda’s first independent power project and largest single private investment, with financing arranged by the‑Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, African Development Bank, Netherlands Development Finance Company, BIO (the Belgian Investment Company for Developing Countries), and Belgian Development Bank” (KPMC).

(Image credits: Power Technology)