IRISH COMPANIES looking to secure business in overseas markets will have the chance to tender for up to €12 billion of infrastructure projects in Africa over the coming years, according to a report released today.

The document, produced for Ibec’s Irish Engineering Enterprises Federation and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade, focuses on opportunities in energy and renewable energy, infrastructure, water and mining in 11 African countries.

These four sectors were identified in key African countries, including South Africa, Nigeria Kenya and Ghana, because they are critical to the continent’s future economic development.

The market assessment by Schuman Associates, called Winning Business in Africa – Building a Cluster for Infrastructure Projects, identifies 115 projects in which Irish companies can participate over the next five years.

The EU, the European Investment Bank, the World Bank and the African Development Bank will contribute much of the €12 billion funding for the developments. However, publicly funded projects are listed for Botswana, Ethiopia, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Namibia, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The projects will begin to come online over the next year. A number of the opportunities have yet to enter the public domain.

The two areas with the highest volume of openings identified are the energy/renewable energy sector and the infrastructure sector, with both high on donors’ agendas for future programming.

Ethiopia, Nigeria, Kenya, Zambia and Tanzania will receive the lion’s share of the aid funding, as along with Zambia the majority of the projects are in these states.

The report also suggests a collaborative approach to tendering for jobs would significantly help the Irish companies.