ITP MEDIA GROUP / BUSINESS MAY 2021 • ISSUE 775 “ACCELERATING EGYPT” HOW ORASCOM CONSTRUCTION WILL “TRANSPORT MILLIONS OF EGYPTIANS” IN THE YEARS TO COME CONTENTS MAY 2021 • ISSUE 775 Egyptian contracting giant Orascom Construction on “positively contributing” towards the North African nation’s transport sector CO V ER S TOR Y 24 INNOVATIVE SURFACES Disha Dadlani visits Cosentino City Dubai showroom to chat all things façade with Eddy Abou Khalil SITE VISIT Khansaheb and T&T takes Ashley Williams around the 44,000m2 extension of Aquaventure Waterpark EXPO EXCLUSIVE Ranju Warrier learns about Malaysia’s “Rainforest Canopy”- themed pavilion at Expo 2020 INDUSTRIAL GROWTH Dubai Industrial City’s Saud Abu Al-Shawareb shares future plans for the industrial hub with Ranju Warrier EDITOR’S LETTER Ashley Williams analyses why Egypt should be rivalling with the UAE and KSA for “construction dominance” LEADERS EGYPT Construction Week is coming to Egypt for the rst time through the launch of our Leaders in Construction conference on 13 July at the JW Marriott, Cairo 10 12 16 18 20 30 STAT OF THE MONTH BIDS WORTH $476.4M FOR DSI DFM-listed Drake & Scull Int’l secures $102.4m worth of contracts as it eyes expansion QUOTE OF THE MONTH “WELL-STRUCTURED PLAN” Hassan Allam Holding’s CEO, Eng. Hassan Allam, shares ve-year plan for Africa growth 08 06 UAE’S YEAR OF THE 50TH Disha Dadlani maps the construction trajectory of the UAE and gains a retropestive view from industry leaders as the country gears up for the next 50 years 32 MAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 3WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM4 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM PUBLISHED BY AND © 2021 ITP MEDIA GROUP FZ-LLC. 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MEDIA WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM The most important project, contract, and tender information, updated every week To have your copy of Construction Week delivered to your doorstep, subscribe by logging on to www.itp.com/subscriptionsMARBLE GRANITE QUARTZITE ONYX TRAVERTINE QUARTZ PRECIOUS STONE Surface Solutions, Designed By Nature www.glaze.ae/QUOTE OF THE MONTH WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM6 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021 HASSAN ALLAM HOLDING SET TO “BRING ITS EXPERTISE INTO AFRICA” Egypt’s leading construction firm, Hassan Allam Holding, has revealed plans to grow its business in the African market over the next five years in an exclusive sit- down interview with Construction Week’s Editor Ashley Williams. With operations worldwide in Egypt, Algeria, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Germany, Morocco, Iraq, Gambia DRC, and Libya, Eng. Hassan Allam, Group Chief Executive Officer for Hassan Allam Holding, told Construction Week that there is a strategy to grow its business in Africa; not just as a general contractor but as a utilities solution provider, a water solution provider, and a building materials manufacturer. The Group CEO also revealed that they have big plans to grow Hassan Allam’s subsidiary, PGESCo, who have delivered landmark projects for energy and industrial sectors in the Egypt and the MENA region for more than two decades. “We come with different hats. Within the group, we have one of the largest engineering and project management energy players as a subsidiary of Hassan Allam, which is PGESCo,” Eng. Allam tells Construction Week. “They have helped Egypt over the last 30 years to design, develop and build an unbelievably solid power infrastructure programme. Egypt produces close to 50,000 megawatts, which have been designed and project managed by PGESCo and has offered the same services in Libya and Iraq.” He adds: “We expect with the rebuilding efforts that will take place in Iraq and Libya that PGESCo will play an important role along Hassan Allam Construction, which is an engineering and construction giant, and other subsidiaries with it. We also want to do this in Africa.” In addition, Eng. Allam elaborates that infrastructure in Africa is “lacking” for the power, energy and water sectors, which PGESCo, Intech and BIOWORKS could make a huge contribution. Intech is one of the largest Egyptian EPC firms in the wastewater, water treatment and purification field, while BIOWORKS offers a whole variety of services and was established as a broadly based engineering company and having assembled a multidisciplinary team. “Power and energy in particular and water infrastructure is lacking and we believe that we have a significant competitive advantage; allowing us to bring our expertise into Africa,” adds Eng. Allam. “For us, it’s not unusual, it’s our backyard. It is only normal for Egypt to lead such an initiative in a continent where we belong,” he concludes. It will be interesting to see the company’s “well- structured plan” for Africa growth come to fruition over next five years. In an exclusive conversation with Construction Week, Eng. Hassan Allam, Group Chief Executive Officer of Hassan Allam Holding, reveals the firm’s future expansion plans Eng. Hassan Allam is the Group Chief Executive Of cer for Hassan Allam Holding [Image: Ahmed Mahgoub]STAT OF THE MONTH DSI STRENGTHENS BUSINESS IN INDUSTRIAL SECTOR, WINS CONTRACTS WORTH OVER $102.4M Dubai Financial Market (DFM)-listed Drake & Scull International (DSI) has secured contracts worth over $102.4m (AED376m), as it strengthened its international footprint in Tunisia, India, and Palestine. In a stock market missive, the company said that it is also bidding for several projects, valued at over $476.4m (AED1.75bn) in Iraq and Kuwait, which will add to its financial fundamentals and operational excellence. Strengthening its business in the wastewater purification and pipeline extension sector, DSI’s growth is fueled by the robust performance of its subsidiary, Passavant Energy & Environment. DSI has commenced work for a wastewater treatment plant in south Méliane in Tunisia. The contract for the project is worth $48.5m (AED178m) and was signed with a French company. Another major contract win is then valued at $9.3m (AED34m) to build a wastewater treatment plant in India. DSI has also completed a wastewater treatment plant in West Bank, Palestine worth $20.7m (AED76m). The scope of work including engineering, procurement, construction, operation, and maintenance, as well as overseeing the training and qualifying employees for a year post- completion. In March 2021, the company also completed the Tubas / Al Tayaseer station in the West Bank. The project was worth $24m (AED88m). Despite the challenges caused by the pandemic, DSI is bidding for a $70.8m (AED260m) project in Kuwait and $405.7m (AED1.49bn) in Iraq. In April 2021, DSI reported a swing- back to profit for 2020, recording a net DSI STRENGTHENS BUSINESS IN INDUSTRIAL SECTTOORR, WWIINNSS CCOONNTTRRAACCTTSS WWOORRTTHH OOVVEERR $$110022..4M After announcing a return to profits for 2020 and a successful restructuring, the firm is eyeing new contracts in Kuwait and Iraq profit of $25.9m (AED95m) compared to a net loss of $23.7m (AED87m) in the same period in 2019, as organisational and financial restructuring progresses positively. The company said in a stock market filing that gross profit for 2020 stood at $4.6m (AED17m) compared to gross profit of $2.2m (AED8m) for the same period last year. In 2020, DSI’s revenues stood at $49.5m (AED182m) compared to $185.4m (AED681m) in 2019. Meanwhile, profit from continued operations reached $31m (AED114m) in 2020 compared to a profit of $63.7m (AED234m) in 2019. DSI said in the missive that the reduction of general and administrative expenses to $18.8m (AED69m) in 2020 compared to $68.6m (AED252m) in 2019 was one of the main reasons contributing to the net profit for the year 2020. 8 CONSTRUCTION WEEK MAY 2021WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COM Strengthening its business in the wastewater puri cation and pipeline extension sector, DSI’s growth is fueled by its subsidiary, Passavant Energy & Environment [Image: Shutterstock]ASCEND ACCESS SYSTEMS SCAFFOLDING: RAISING THE BAR OF SAFETY STANDARDS IN CONSTRUCTION ASCEND ACCESS SYSTEMS SCAFFOLDING: RAISING THE BAR OF SAFETY STANDARDS IN CONSTRUCTION CEO of ASCEND Access Systems Scaffolding, Shadab Ahsan reveals they are the only scaffolding company with BSEN 1004 Kitemark™ certification Every product ASCEND Access Systems Scaffolding LLC produces is inspected and evaluated, and CEO and Founder of ASCEND Access Systems Scaffolding, Shadab Ahsan explains that their aluminium scaffolding and products are according to EN1004 standards, known as Kitemark™ Certification. “We are the first and only scaffolding company in the GCC to have this certification from the British Standard Institute.” There is always an advantage of achieving this certification, he explained, especially to export to European countries which require this Kitemark™ Certification. He adds: “Getting this certification is a continuous process in which they ensure whoever gets it continues to maintain this standard of a perfect product.” Compliance and certification are two different things, he says. “Some companies have received compliance which involves a one-time compliance certification after product testing from a third-party.” With certification, all components in manufacturing must be certified with known traceability of the product. “There’s a permanent embossing on the products, and every item must match these specifications; from the nuts, washer, and bolts,” he explains. With metal, it has to be corrosion resistant and hot dip galvanised, according to international specifications. Different products have various specifications and requirements, he explains. “The couplers used on construction sites are certified as EN74 standard, the tubes are EN39 standard; so this involves the quality to the material to the configuration, plus the longevity and corrosion wear.” ASCEND started as an aluminium scaffolding company in 2006, and once they started manufacturing here, Ahsan said they took the lead first and managed to sell to the end users, directly on the projects. “ASCEND started with aluminium scaffolding in the MEP sector for electrical jobs in major commercial projects. ASCEND started diversifying and introduced fiberglass, cuplock, and ringlock scaffolding in 2018. There’s a certain industry that requires fiberglass as compared to aluminium scaffolding for certain reasons. “Fiberglass is non-conductive to electricity so when we supply fiberglass scaffolding with anti-slip wooden deck and complete fiberglass filtration, it’s completely safe for select jobs and completely safe from heat,” he explains. “Also, fiberglass is strong; in aluminium we’re able to achieve 750kg for moveable scaffolding, but in fiberglass we’re able to achieve 850kg, so there is more load bearing capacity.” ASCEND also introduced a work platform for higher level access in the form of a foldable rolling ladder. “This became very popular because most sites require 3-5m, ultimately making our market position stronger,” he tells. “Moreover, ASCEND is giving the market a new choice with our platform ladder. “With scaffolding, you need to assemble, store, and transport, but their platform ladder is foldable and actually can go from 2-6m working height, making it a more practical product.” SCAFFOLDING MAY 2021 CONSTRUCTION WEEK 9WWW.CONSTRUCTIONWEEKONLINE.COMNext >