Scatec ASA has achieved Commercial Operations Date (COD) for the second phase of its Obelisk renewable energy project in Egypt, bringing the full 1.1 GW solar and 100 MW/200 MWh battery storage development into operation

The project was constructed in two stages. Its first phase consists of 561 MW of solar generation capacity alongside the full 100 MW/200 MWh battery energy storage system. The newly operational second phase contributes a further 564 MW of solar capacity.

Scatec and its partners signed the project’s Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) in November 2024, with construction and completion delivered in what the company describes as record time.

“Reaching full commercial operations at Obelisk marks a defining milestone for Scatec. Completing Africa's largest hybrid solar and battery installation demonstrates our ability to develop, finance, and deliver large-scale renewable energy projects in emerging markets. Obelisk will supply clean, reliable power to Egypt for 25 years and is a tangible contribution to the country's energy security and transition,” commented Terje Pilskog, CEO of Scatec.

Large-Scale Solar and Storage

The Obelisk development is described as Africa’s largest hybrid solar and battery installation. Once fully operational, the project is expected to avoid more than 1.2 million tonnes of CO2 emissions annually.

It is also forecast to generate more than 3,000 GWh of clean electricity each year. The output will be supplied to the Egyptian Electricity Transmission Company (EETC) under a 25-year USD-denominated Power Purchase Agreement.

With Obelisk now operational alongside Scatec’s 380 MW BenBan solar facility, the company has approximately 1.5 GW of renewable energy capacity in operation in Egypt.

Expanding Egypt’s renewable energy portfolio

Scatec’s near-term development pipeline in Egypt includes more than 4.3 GW of additional renewable energy capacity and 4.1 GWh of battery storage. Together, the portfolio is expected to generate approximately 17 TWh of clean electricity annually while providing grid stability support.

The company continues to identify Egypt as one of its key long-term growth markets.

Scatec serves as the controlling shareholder in the Obelisk project, with National Bank of Egypt, Norfund and EDF Power Solutions participating as minority equity partners.

Financing for the development was supported by several development finance institutions. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), African Development Bank (AfDB), British International Investment (BII) and European Investment Bank (EIB) provided senior lending.

Scatec managed the development and delivery of the project through its integrated business model, covering Engineering, Procurement and Construction (EPC), Asset Management (AM), and Operations & Maintenance (O&M) throughout the project lifecycle.

Improving efficiency: Hlulani Mathonsi, sales specialist, ABB South Africa, on how intelligent process control is reshaping Africa’s cement production

Africa’s cement industry is under growing pressure to produce more while consuming less. As urbanisation accelerates across the continent, demand for cement continues to rise, driven by infrastructure development, housing projects, renewable energy investments, and industrial expansion. Whilst the manufacturers are operating in an increasingly challenging environment marked by rising electricity costs, unstable power supply, sustainability pressures, and tighter operational margins.

Globally, cement manufacturing accounts for approximately 7-8 % of total carbon emissions, according to the International Energy Agency (IEA). The sector is also one of the most energy-intensive industries in the world, requiring substantial electricity and thermal energy to sustain production. The IEA estimates that cement production consumes around 100 kWh of electricity per ton produced, placing enormous pressure on energy systems and operational costs.

In South Africa and across Africa, the challenge is even more pronounced. Persistent energy instability and rising utility tariffs continue to impact industrial productivity, forcing manufacturers to rethink how operations are managed and optimised. In this environment, digitalisation and intelligent automation are becoming critical tools for improving resilience, efficiency, and competitiveness.

Industrial automation

Across global manufacturing, companies are increasingly investing in advanced process control, predictive analytics, and automation technologies to improve productivity while reducing waste. According to McKinsey research, industrial automation is rapidly expanding across process-intensive sectors such as mining, chemicals, and cement production as businesses seek greater efficiency, reliability, and sustainability.

For cement plants, this shift is particularly important because production environments are highly complex and highly variable. Small fluctuations in kiln temperature and fuel mix can significantly affect energy efficiency, product quality, and equipment lifespan. Traditional manual operating methods are increasingly unable to manage these variables effectively in real time.

Digital solutions

This is where advanced process optimisation technologies such as ABB’s Expert Optimizer are reshaping operations. Using model predictive control, neural networks, and real-time analytics, these systems continuously monitor and adjust plant conditions to stabilise performance and maximise efficiency. Expert Optimizer is a digital solution that provides advanced process techniques, including linear and non-linear model predictive control, fuzzy logic, neural networks and analytical AI to always make the best operational decisions accurately and consistently in high-pressure environments.

The global results demonstrate the value of this approach. ABB Ability Expert Optimizer results in maximising the use of alternative fuels, increasing recovery in product by 1% to 3%, reducing quality variation by up to 30%, and increasing throughput by up to 8%. In many use cases, plants have achieved return on investment in less than 12 months through lower fuel consumption, reduced downtime, and improved process stability.

Recent global projects further illustrate how integrated automation is transforming industrial production. ABB’s collaboration with Novada Cement in the USA is one such example. ABB deployed electrification, automation, and drives solutions at a new cement plant in Florida to improve process visibility, reliability, and control over cement production to provide operational decision-making across the facility.

Urgency and opportunity

For African manufacturers, this creates both urgency and opportunity. Many industrial facilities across the continent are currently modernising or expanding, creating an opportunity to adopt more advanced and efficient production systems from the outset. However, successful digital transformation is not only about technology deployment. It also depends on aligning systems, people, and operational priorities. Human expertise remains essential in industrial environments, particularly in operationally demanding sectors.

This collaboration between operational expertise and automation is increasingly shaping the future of industrial manufacturing globally. As energy costs rise and sustainability expectations intensify, operational efficiency will become one of the cement sector’s most important competitive differentiators. In fact, the future of cement production will not be defined solely by how much is produced, but by how intelligently, efficiently, and sustainably production is achieved.

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Sandvik has secured orders from Lucara Botswana Pty Ltd, a subsidiary of Lucara Diamond Corp., for a 15-unit underground mining equipment fleet for the Karowe diamond mine in Botswana

The package includes underground drills and loaders, as well as parts, rock tools, aftermarket services and digital solutions. Financing for the investment has been arranged through Sandvik Financial Services (SFS), with an export credit guarantee from the Swedish Export Credit Agency (EKN).

The equipment package comprises five Sandvik DD321 development drills, four Toro LH517i loaders, two Toro LH621i loaders, two Sandvik DD422i development drills, one Sandvik DS422i cable bolter and one Sandvik DU311 longhole drill. The order was booked during the second quarter of 2026, with deliveries already under way and scheduled to continue through the fourth quarter.

The fleet will support Lucara’s continued development of the Karowe underground mine as the operation progresses through its transition from open-pit mining. The Karowe Underground Project is designed to extend the mine’s operating life beyond 2038.

Karowe is recognised as one of the world’s highest-value diamond mines and has gained a reputation for producing large and exceptional stones. Earlier this year, the mine announced the recovery of its tenth diamond weighing more than 1,000 carats, further highlighting the significance of the operation.

“As we continue developing the Karowe underground mine, we were looking for a partner that could support us throughout the project lifecycle,” said Benjamin Wang, director corporate finance at Lucara. “Sandvik's combination of leading underground equipment, aftermarket support and financing capability made it a compelling solution for our operation. This investment supports our strategy of building a safe and productive underground mine.”

Beyond the initial equipment supply, Sandvik will provide ongoing aftermarket support intended to enhance fleet availability and productivity throughout the equipment lifecycle. The support package also incorporates rock tools and digital technologies, including My Sandvik and Remote Monitoring Service.

“This order demonstrates the breadth of our offering and our ability to support customers in Botswana with an integrated solution that extends beyond the equipment,” stated Floors Foord, Territory manager for Botswana at Sandvik Mining. “By bringing together expertise from across Sandvik, we can support Lucara throughout the equipment lifecycle while contributing to the long-term success of its underground operation.”

The equipment investment is being supported through an SFS financing structure backed by an EKN export credit guarantee. The arrangement combines Sandvik’s equipment and aftermarket capabilities with its financial services offering, providing support for Lucara’s continued investment in the underground development of Karowe.

“By combining Sandvik’s mining expertise with our financial services capabilities and EKN’s export credit support, we were able to structure a competitive financing solution around Lucara’s investment requirements,” said Tony Clarke, SFS EMEA manager at Sandvik. “It demonstrates how financing can complement our equipment and aftermarket offering and help customers advance significant long-term mining investments.”

Viaservice-Ke, a subsidiary of Switzerland-based Viatrans SA, has partnered with A. P. Moller - Maersk (Maersk) to help streamline container management and improve access to digital trade financing for customers in Kenya’s logistics sector

The partnership will make the Viaservice Container Solution (VCS) available to eligible Maersk customers. The digital platform is designed to support freight forwarders and other logistics businesses with financing for container-related transactions while helping them manage cash flow more effectively.

Through the arrangement, eligible customers can have containers released without paying the conventional refundable deposit directly. This can reduce the amount of working capital tied up during container transactions, while also easing administrative processes and supporting smoother cargo movement.

VCS provides a digital platform through which logistics stakeholders can access financing for container-related charges and other logistics transactions.

Reducing working capital pressure

Under the traditional container release process, importers are generally required to provide a deposit to the shipping line before receiving the container. The deposit is returned once the empty equipment is handed back.

For businesses managing several containers at once, these deposits can tie up substantial working capital for extended periods.

Under the VCS arrangement, Viaservice provides an advance payment facility covering demurrage, damage and total loss on behalf of eligible customers, on a reimbursement basis. This enables containers to be released without customers having to provide the conventional deposit themselves.

The model is intended to help businesses maintain liquidity for their daily operations while keeping cargo moving through the supply chain.

“At Viaservice, we are committed to providing innovative digital and financial solutions that facilitate trade and support the growth of businesses operating in fast-growing economies. Our partnership with Maersk marks an important milestone in expanding access to digital trade financing solutions and strengthening the logistics ecosystem in the region. Since introducing the VCS, we have focused on addressing financing challenges faced by freight forwarders and logistics businesses, helping to accelerate cargo movement and improve efficiency across the logistics sector. Through this collaboration, we are extending these benefits to a wider customer base, enabling businesses to improve cash flow, optimize operations, and move cargo more efficiently,” commented John Mathenge, managing director of Viaservice Limited.

Tito Okuku, Area Managing Director for Eastern Africa, said the partnership would provide customers with solutions addressing both financial and operational challenges.

“As Kenya continues to strengthen its position as a regional trade and logistics hub, our customers require solutions that support working capital management, reduce transaction bottlenecks, and facilitate seamless movement of goods. Through our partnership with Viaservice, we are enhancing the value we provide by facilitating access to financing solutions that complement our logistics services and contribute to smoother trade flows.”

Expanding across East African trade routes

The partnership builds on an existing VCS relationship in Tanzania and expands the platform’s reach through Kenya’s Port of Mombasa.

“Welcoming Maersk onto the VCS platform in Kenya marks an important expansion of a partnership already successfully established in Tanzania. Through the Port of Mombasa, a growing share of regional container flows can now benefit from a more efficient alternative to cash deposits. The impact extends beyond Kenya. As a critical gateway for trade corridors serving landlocked markets across East Africa, Kenyan ports plays a central role in regional commerce. By reducing capital tied up in container deposits, VCS helps businesses preserve liquidity, improve operational efficiency and move cargo more smoothly across these corridors. This partnership further strengthens the regional reach of VCS and demonstrates how collaboration between shipping lines and trade-facilitation providers can improve the flow of both cargo and capital across African trade routes,” stated Morgan Lépinoy, managing director of Viatrans SA, Switzerland.

The companies will also conduct customer education and stakeholder engagement activities to raise awareness of VCS, encourage adoption and help businesses across the logistics value chain make use of the platform.

The collaboration is expected to support a more resilient, efficient and digitally enabled logistics sector while contributing to Kenya’s wider trade and economic development objectives.

South Africa's Rand Merchant Bank (RMB) has opened an advisory office in Beijing, aimed at strengthening ties with Chinese corporates and supporting growing investment into African markets

The launch of Rand Merchant Advisory Company Limited comes as trade between China and Africa exceeds US$350bn, an all-time high, reflecting deepening commercial links across infrastructure, energy and industrial development.

The Beijing office is expected to provide Chinese companies with on-the-ground advisory support as they explore opportunities across Africa, offering expertise in corporate finance, cross-border banking, foreign exchange and structured capital.

Emrie Brown, RMB’s CEO, said it marks an important milestone in the group’s Africa-China corridor strategy.

“It brings us closer to Chinese corporates to connect them more effectively with opportunity across our African network,” said Brown.

“Our focus is on helping clients navigate cross-border trade, transactional banking, foreign exchange, and investment flows with the benefit of local insight and deep African market expertise.”

For African economies, the move signals continued confidence in the continent as a destination for Chinese investment.

The Africa-China corridor’s growth continues to be anchored by “monumental infrastructure investment”, RMB said in a statement, and a rapidly evolving green energy landscape.

Over the past decade, Chinese enterprises have constructed or renovated over 10,000 km of railway and 100,000 km of highways across Africa.

While Chinese firms have traditionally focused on transport and infrastructure projects, investment is increasingly expanding into renewable energy, manufacturing and other sectors that support broader industrialisation.

As China itself transitions under global climate agreements, “massive opportunities” have emerged for Rand Merchant Advisory to partner with Chinese contractors to lead sustainable finance initiatives across African markets.

The bank said Chinese contractors have participated in around 70% of the renewable energy projects it has concluded in recent years, underlining China’s growing role in Africa’s own energy transition.

RMB said the expansion combines its investment banking capabilities with First National Bank’s (FNB) transactional banking platform, which already serves more than 4,000 Chinese business accounts across South Africa and the wider continent.

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Wastewater is still too often viewed as the end of a process, something to treat and discharge once it leaves a home, business, mine, or industrial site

In a water-scarce country, that linear view overlooks its value and the consequences of returning it to a connected water system.

South Africa’s rivers and water-transfer systems carry water across municipal, provincial, and national boundaries. Water may be abstracted, used, treated, returned, altered, and abstracted again downstream. The performance of wastewater infrastructure therefore affects far more than the site or municipality operating it.

“Some by-products of wastewater treatment can be used to generate energy that is fed back into the treatment infrastructure, reducing its demand on the grid,” says Kosikee Emma-Iwuoha, associate and water civil engineer at WSP in Africa. “Treated effluent can also be reused for irrigation or, with further treatment, in industrial processes.”

Wastewater is already part of the water system

Discharged water does not disappear from the resource system. Lee Boyd, technical director and water resource scientist at WSP in Africa, says return flows already form part of the water available to downstream users in South Africa’s connected catchments.

“South Africa’s water is reused extensively. Return flows can be abstracted again downstream, where their quality affects domestic users, agriculture, industry, and aquatic ecosystems. Water quantity and quality are connected and should not be managed separately,” says Boyd.

Return flows are incorporated into reconciliation planning in all catchments. However, Boyd cautions that return flows do not always meet the required quality after treatment, and sewer failures can prevent it from reaching treatment works.

Emma-Iwuoha’s earlier career experience includes extending a treated-effluent pipeline to potential users in the Western Cape where he saw firsthand that effective reuse ultimately hinges on reliable collection, treatment, monitoring, and clear end‑use planning.

A disposal mindset sends risk downstream

When the objective is simply to move wastewater through the system and dispose of it, less attention may be paid to the condition of the material entering the receiving environment.

Emma-Iwuoha says poorly managed discharge can overload natural systems, contribute to eutrophication, affect downstream water quality, and create environmental and health risks. The linear model also loses economic value that could support monitoring, maintenance, and further treatment.

The bulk network is central to this problem. Treatment capacity has limited value if sewers leak, surcharge, or release wastewater before it reaches the plant. Upgrades therefore need to cover collection, conveyance, treatment, monitoring, and discharge as one system.

Boyd says investment must also be matched by operational capability: “A treatment works can be upgraded, but the wider question is who will run it, whether there are enough people, and whether they have the skills and support to monitor performance.”

Design should begin with the catchment

Catchment assessments and water quality management plans help define what wastewater infrastructure needs to achieve before the physical solution is selected.

A catchment assessment identifies the downstream communities, industries, ecological systems, risks, and reuse opportunities that may be affected. It helps establish the required capacity and which receiving environments need protection.

“A suitably detailed catchment assessment gives us a better understanding of the risks, needs, and opportunities. The water quality management plan provides the benchmarks for choosing treatment processes, monitoring performance, and responding under normal and emergency conditions,” says Emma-Iwuoha.

Boyd adds that site-level wastewater and surface-water decisions should reflect the condition and objectives of the broader catchment. That depends on reliable evidence, yet monitoring information is often fragmented across government departments, municipalities, mines, industries, laboratories, and other water users.

Consolidating and verifying that information would improve treatment planning and allow problems to be identified sooner. A report received months after a pollution incident may explain what occurred, but it cannot reduce the impact while contaminated water is still moving downstream.

Resilience depends on people as well as assets

Wastewater systems need to be designed for expected growth rather than present demand alone. Government plans, municipal budgets, industrial expansion, urbanisation, and long-term operating requirements influence how much capacity is needed and how soon another upgrade may be required.

Emma-Iwuoha says coordination between government and industry can help prevent infrastructure from reaching capacity shortly after commissioning. Community involvement is equally important because acceptance cannot be assumed simply because a solution is technically sound.

Residents may have concerns about location, odour control, downstream river use, and the implications for health and livelihoods. Engagement needs to address these concerns while explaining the sanitation, environmental, and economic benefits.

Shared data requires similar trust. Boyd says a credible platform that verifies and protects monitoring information where necessary could strengthen catchment-wide planning without duplicating work.

Innovation has to reinforce the fundamentals

Waste-to-energy is one of the most promising opportunities identified by Emma-Iwuoha.

As treatment processes improve, organic material from wastewater can contribute to energy generation and, in suitable applications, create synergies with solid-waste management. It can reduce the energy burden of treatment where the scale, feedstock, economics, and operational capacity support it.

WSP has built capabilities in solid waste management and is expanding its capacity in wastewater treatment and process engineering, supported by expertise in water science, environmental assessment, and civil engineering.

Bringing these disciplines together allows teams to define what needs protection, set the required water quality targets, and translate those requirements into infrastructure that can be funded, built, operated, and adapted over time.

South Africa will not unlock the resilience value of wastewater through technology alone. Functioning bulk networks, skilled operators, verified data, appropriate treatment, credible governance and community support must be considered together.

Planned as a single system, wastewater can support the country’s water security rather than remaining an obligation at the end of a pipe.

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