Finance & Funding

German engine manufacturer Deutz saw new orders rise in the first quarter 2018 by nearly 43% per cent year-on-year to almost €575 million. The figure for the corresponding period in 2017 was €403 million, while in the fourth quarter of 2017 it was nearly €383 million. The company said that the significant rise in new orders was partly due to very favourable business conditions as well as to changed customer procurement behaviour. In the light of the strong demand and the introduction of emissions standard

Concerns over financing are delaying progress on Kenya’s massive highway connection project. The new highway between the capital Nairobi and the country’s premier port of Mombasa is expected to cost in the region of US$3.5 billion. Construction is being managed by the US contractor Bechtel, which is sourcing suitable funding from private firms and has considerable experience of building highways in developing nations. But the sheer scale of this project, one of the country’s largest since its independence,

Nigeria’s longest concrete road should be open by the end of the year, according to AG-Dangot, contractor on the project. Around 33km of earthworks and 23km of pavement have been completed for the 44km Obajana–Kabba project in Kogi state, according to Ashif Juma, managing director of AG-Dangote. Nigerian media reported that Juma also urged all of Nigeria’s governments and councils to switch from asphalt to concrete road construction because concrete requires less maintenance. To this end, the Obajana-Kabba

Kenya has blamed design changes for delaying the start of work on a road linking the port of Mombasa to the Tansanian port of Tanga. The change to the key road’s design is from a single to dual carriageway along a section of the 445km transnational highway. However, the African Development Bank (AfDB), the principal financier of the project, said the Kenyan government itself was slow in completing preliminary studies, such as road designs, in order to start construction.

A consortium led by Adani Enterprises has won a US$175 million highway contract in Chhattisgarh from the National Highways Authority of India. Work in Chhattisgarh, one of India’s 29 states, will be done under a 15-year Hybrid Annuity Model and take nearly two years. Chhattisgarh is heavily forested with many rivers and dramatic waterfalls, making it one of India’s major supplier of hydro-electricity. The highways project involves four-laning a 53km stretch on the Bilaspur-Pathrapali section of the NH

Polish contractor Polaqua has signed a deal worth €193 million to design and build a 20km section of S6 dual carriageway. Completion is scheduled for mid-2021. Polaqua will also build a 3km section as part of the expansion of the ring road around the Tri-City area in northern Poland. Tri-City incorporates the three cities in Pomerania - Gdańsk, Gdynia and Sopot, as well as surrounding minor towns. They are situated along the coast of Gdańsk Bay on the Baltic Sea. The regional population is more than 1

A planned series of road improvement and upgrade works is intended to help reduce Bangkok’s chronic congestion problems. In all 204 road projects are planned for Bangkok or the surrounding area. The work is expected to be carried out from 2019-2030, with a value of some US$9.26 billion in all. The road development programme has been planned by the Office of Transport and Traffic Policy and Planning (OTP), with the work to be carried out in three phases. Include in the work will be the construction of bridge

A major road development will be the establishment of a new link connecting Myanmar with other countries in South East Asia. The new highway will allow drivers to travel from Myanmar to Thailand as well as Vietnam and Cambodia. A loan worth US$144.3 million from Thailand will help pay for the section of the route in Myanmar between Dawei and Hteekee. Once complete the highway will connect Ho Chi Minh City in Vietnam with Siem Reap and Phnom Penh in Cambodia and Kanchanaburi and Bangkok in Thailand. Called

The key infrastructure policy adviser to US president Donald Trump has resigned, according to US media reports. DJ Gribbin is "moving on" to pursue unspecified opportunities, a White House official told the Washington Examiner newspaper. Gribbin joined the White House staff in February 2017 to advise Trump on how he could fulfil his election promise to boost infrastructure spending with around US$200 billion. Gribbin previously worked as chief counsel for the Federal Highway Administration and general