UK ministerial department UK export finance (UKEF) has announced funding worth £620m for six national infrastructure projects in Gabon, Ghana, Uganda and Zambia.
The deals announced yesterday (20 January) at the UK-Africa Investment Summit were:
- Gabon: £40m will go towards a 83km road upgrade, to be delivered by Colas UK in the country’s capital of Libreville.
- Ghana: £110m will finance Contracta Construction UK’s upgrade of Kumasi teaching hospital. This will add 750 maternity beds. Some £40m will support the firm’s expansion of Kumasi airport, which will be able to accommodate a further million travellers a year.
- Uganda: £185m is earmarked for work on Kampala Industrial Business Park by Belfast contractor Lagan Group and local company DOTT services, which will create 200,000 jobs. A £1.5m loan will create a machinery deal between UK firm Unatrac and Mota-Engil Africa for use in roadworks.
- Zambia: £244m will be spent on 108 rural healthcare clinics, which will be designed, built and operated by UK civil engineer NMS.
A Gabon road project
Liz Truss, UK’s international trade secretary, said: "Africa is home to eight of the 15 fastest growing economies in the world and its economic prosperity matters to the UK.   Â
"We want the UK to be the partner of choice in Africa so I am delighted that, with UKEF’s support, British expertise will form a key component of these infrastructure projects that will directly improve millions of lives."Â
UKEF says over the past two years, it has provided financing worth almost £2bn for African infrastructure projects.
Recently UKEF has funded projects worth £500m in Oman, and $1bn in Iraq.
Top image: A render of the maternity ward at Kumasi teaching hospital, images courtesy of UKEF
