Inyatsi to rebuild E500m Somaliland market building
MBABANE – Local construction giants, Inyatsi Construction, has landed a multimillion Emalangeni tender in the Republic of Somaliland – a country in the +orn of Africa.
The tender is for the rebuilding of what is known as Waheen Market, which is the second biggest business market in Somaliland as well as one of the largest and busiest markets in the +orn of Africa.
On April 1, 2022, a fire ravaged Waheen Market, engulfing 3 673 businesses and destroying all their assets and sources of income.
Following the bla]e, the United Nations (UN) sent a team of technical experts to support on-the-ground relief and reconstruction efforts.
The assessment team recommended the building of a highrise structure at Waheen market so as to accommodate all businesses including those on the streets beside the market and identified six temporary locations for the people who had lost their businesses.
On Thursday, May 4, 2023, the National Contracts Committee issued a statement informing the people of Somaliland that it had finalised the ‘Waheen Market Construction Contract’.
The committee said the competition had gone through different stages, which were reviewed and re-advertised several times in accordance with the National Contracts Act, the Contract Procedures Provision of Buildings No. 2022 and National Procurement Regulation.
MARKET
“The National Procurement Commission has reviewed and re-advertised the tender four times as it has made it possible for only one company to be able to build a modern market at a reasonable price. Therefore, the National Procurement Committee has re-advertised on March 27, 2023, in which international companies have participated in the submission of the Waheen Construction Contract,” reads the statement.
It further states: “The National Contracts Committee, after a long evaluation, was satisfied that the Inyatsi Construction Company, one of the Inyatsi Group of Companies, based in Eswatini, won the construction of Waheen Market tender. The company is one of the largest companies in Africa that has many operations in many African countries.”
Inyatsi Construction Chief Executive Officer Derrick Shiba confirmed the tender award and said the company continued to spread its footprint across Africa.
“Inyatsi Construction has been awarded the project to reconstruct the famous Waheen Market, which is an iconic market not only in Somaliland, but in the region as well, seeing trade from Djibouti, Ethiopia and Eritrea,” Shiba said.
The CEO, who is currently on a working visit of the Inyatsi projects in the region, said he had also taken on Inyatsi projects in Uganda, where the company is building the Kabuyanda earth dam, which is reportedly of a similar feature as the Mpakeni Dam, whose construction has been awarded to a Chinese joint venture of Besides visiting the Uganda project, Shiba also spent time in Malawi to monitor progress on two water projects valued at E1 billion. Shiba, meanwhile, disclosed that the Waheen Market tender is worth an estimated E500 million and is projected to be completed over a 16-month period.