Construction and Infrastructure

With a population of just over 30,000 people and a total area of some 459 square kilometres, São João da Barra may not be as recognisable as some of Brazil’s other municipalities, however it is the location of one of the country’s most exciting developments, the Açu Superport, the largest port infrastructure investment project in all of Latin America.

The Davie shipyard at Lévis, just across the Saint Lawrence River from Quebec City, traces its origins back to 1825 when it was founded by an English sea captain called Allison Davie. Over its long lifetime it has built more than 700 vessels and drilling and production platforms and seen shipbuilding technology develop from wood and sail. During World War II, Davie built 35 warships (mine sweepers, corvettes and destroyers). Davie has also fabricated numerous other products for a variety of industries including power, defence and transport.

Tarcon is a private Harare-based company with operations throughout southern Africa, active in Mozambique and Zambia as well as its home market in Zimbabwe. It employs over 800 people. Although the company formally began operations in its present form in 2001, its foundations go back to 1981 and Tarcon was the result of the merger of a number of earthmoving, plant hire and later, civil contracting companies.

 

Renowned for the quality of its product, which has proven to be the lifeblood of the Kenyan construction industry over the last 80 years, the East African Portland Cement Company (EAPCC) has been the country’s leading cement manufacturer since it was founded in 1933.

The Bank expects that higher commodities, increasing investment and a general pick-up in the world economy should all boost the continent's growth to more than 5 percent. This comes at a time when global GDP is forecast to grow by an average of 2.4 percent this year.

Foreign direct investment is forecast to reach record levels in the coming years, hitting $54 billion a year by 2015, the Bank said.

Founded in 1542, Santiago has been the capital city of Chile since colonial times. Located within the country’s central valley, its cityscape is shaped by several stand-alone hills and the Mapocho River. Situated mere hours away from both the mountains and the Pacific Ocean, visitors to Santiago are also treated to views of the iconic Andes Mountains from most places across the city.

According to the National Association of Realtors (NAR), home sales had gained 0.8 percent since January to reach an annual pace of 4.98 million units, with the rise all coming from sales of apartments and condominiums.

NAR economist Lawrence Yun said low interest rates, improvement in employment and pent-up demand still underpinned the market's continuing expansion. "Job growth in the improving economy and pent-up demand are causing both home sales and rental leasing to rise.

New home sales surged some 16 percent in January to their highest rate since July 2008, while The Conference Board index of consumer attitudes rebounded to 69.6 in February from an upwardly revised 58.6 in January.

This latter figure suggests Americans has recovered from the shock of a sharp rise in payroll taxes over the New Year.

Markets were buoyed by the US data, which were both well above expectations, with the Dow Jones Industrial Average recovering half a percent in morning trading.

According to the Zambia Tourism Board this nation surrounded by eight neighbours has over 40,000 kilometres of roads, only 8,200 kilometres of them tarred and another 8,000 kilometres all weather gravel road. The rest are made of compressed laterite and vary in condition from reasonable to rather bad, being vulnerable to the seasonal rains.