News

Building upon two successfully implemented phases, GOPA Infra has won the third phase of the KfW-financed ”Fund for Peace Consolidation (FCP III)” in DR Congo, together with its consortium partners GOPA Consultants, SUM Consult and AFC Agriculture & Finance Consultants.

Mr Mathias Lueg, Managing Director of GOPA Infra, signed the 4 year contract (with an optional 4 year extension) at KfW’s HQ in Frankfurt on 12 December 2018.

In its 3rd phase, the FCP III is aiming to stabilise and promote peace in the east of the country through targeted, inclusive and conflict-resolution-related investments, economic and social infrastructure activities and poverty reduction schemes. In addition, the FCP III consists of a new component, the "Prevention of Juvenile Violence (PVJ)" programme. Though independent initiatives, this special component will focus on violence prevention in Kinshasa's urban areas. Total investment volume of this contract is EUR 80 million (EUR 70 million FCP III/ EUR 10 million PVJ).

GOPA Infra will be represented on site by one long-term expert filling the position of social expert; she will be based in Goma/DR Congo during the entire project lifetime.

The Logismed Soft Initiative was launched by the EIB, with the financial support of the European Union, and implemented by GOPA Infra as the consultant to help develop the competitiveness of the logistics sector in the Mediterranean region. Logismed in Jordan has successfully attained the following achievements:

Two workshop seminars were held at the Ministry of Transport in July and October for governmental employees and private companies’ managers.

Sixty-one participants coming from the private and public sector have successfully completed their ELA (European Logistics Association) training courses. Three groups have been organised, each one following four modules for 14 days: business principles, transportation, warehousing and supply chain. The training took place at the German Jordan University in Amman, with both local and international instructors.

All participants who are successful in their exams and interview will be awarded the EJLog certificate. Certified participants are going to be the first ELA Certified professionals in Jordan.

Twenty-five participants from the private and public sector have successfully completed the ToT (training of trainers) training course conducted by local instructors over 13 days at the German Jordan University. ToT participants were awarded a participation certificate approved by this university.

Forty-six participants have successfully completed the warehousing management course, covering warehouse organisation, layout, and safety and security, for which two groups were organised. The training sessions took place in Aqaba Logistics Village in Aqaba.

Participants were handed attendance certificates by the Logismed project, approved by GOPA Consultants.

For more than two decades, Waste Electrical and Electronic Equipment (WEEE) or e-waste has been dumped at the Agbogbloshie site in Accra/Ghana, and handled by the informal sector in terms of recycling and disposal. Agbogbloshie has degraded into a paradigm of the environmental and human health burdens emanating from rapid global increases in electronics use and global trade imbalances. The site was formerly known as Old Fadama and has since been dubbed “Sodom and Gomorrha” by the local residents and international press.

GOPA Infra is leading a consortium comprising of Ramboll Environment & Health GmbH (Munich/Germany), EAP (Accra/Ghana,) and the NGO Technology without Borders (Germany/Ghana). We signed a €2m. contract with Ghana’s Ministry of Environment, Science, Technology and Innovation (MESTI) for the KFW-financed project, “Recycling and Disposal of Waste of Electrical and Electronic Equipment in an Environmentally Sound Way”.

The project addresses the sound disposal and recycling of WEEE and aims to reduce damage to the environment and human health caused by unsound recycling of e-waste, and at the same time to ensure livelihoods while channeling the most heavily polluting e-waste processing from the informal sector into sound recycling.

The purpose of the project is to support to Ghanaian partners to set up an incentive mechanism for sound recycling of e-waste, as well as the construction and operation of a so-called ‘Handover-Centre’ (HOC) serving as the logistical basis for reception and storage of the purchased e-wastes. This innovative project seeks to test how an incentive system for sound collection and recycling of e-waste could function and pursue the objective of contributing towards the development of a sustainable national recycling system for e-waste in Ghana.

As Technical Assistance to the Agence National d’Investissements des Collectivités Territoriales (ANICT), GOPA Infra initiated the official kick-off session of the two decentralisation programmes, PACT IV and V-I.  The kick-off was attended by the line ministries and representatives of the German embassy, the KfW Development Bank and different other stakeholders.

In line with the preceding phases of the programme, these two programmes contribute to the decentralisation process and good governance in Mali, through the financing of investments by the territorial communities. PACT IV (volume: €8m.) is designated to provide direct support to four secondary towns and ten local communities, taking a capacity-reinforcement approach. This will enable the beneficiary communities to undertake their role as contracting authority during implementation of the investments financed. While PACT IV works with this hands-on approach, PACT V-I contributes to the decentralisation process through financing by the “national funds to support the territorial communities” (FNACT), and support to the capacity reinforcement of the executing agency ANICT.

Together with its partner AMBERO, GOPA Infra will assist ANICT over the next 36 months in the technical and financial management of both programmes. It is possible that the PACT V-I approach will then be extended by a further 36 months.

Mr Claus Hager (GOPA Consultants, department Rural Development and Environment), Mr Rainer Riha (GOPA Infra) and Mr Mathias Lueg (GOPA Infra) (from left to right) undertook a pre-inception mission to the Selous Game Reserve. Despite challenging weather and road conditions, they managed to reach the SGR headquarters at Matambwe where they met representatives of the park management and Frankfurt Zoological Society. Discussions on the implementation of the project funded by the KfW Development Bank were also held at the headquarters of the Tanzania Wildlife Authority in Morogoro (see picture below).

The project aims to improve the infrastructure of Selous by rehabilitating roads, bridges and airstrips, as well as constructing workshops and accommodation for rangers. The provision of equipment is an additional element.

In the sensitive environment of a UNESCO world heritage site that is larger than Switzerland, the interventions require careful planning and execution.

The inauguration of the industrial training center was celebrated in the presence of the German Ambassador, dignitaries from Bago State, the Ministry of Industry and the Ministry of Education, as well as representatives from KfW Development Bank and GIZ.

Mr. Mathias Lueg and Ms. Tara Sann represented the GOPA Infra/Planco consortium which has provided the consultancy services for construction, rehabilitation, and the provision of advanced equipment and training.

In addition to Afghanistan and Turkey, GOPA Infra has successfully opened a registered branch office in Uganda. The office is located in Kololo, close to the city centre of Kampala and houses project staff as well as our country representative, Ms Sabine Böltken.

GOPA Infra is currently implementing three projects, for KfW Development Bank and Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH, and is well prepared for upcoming challenges in its service areas.

A consortium comprising GOPA Infra, Sweco, INTEC, GOPA Middle East and Dar al-Omran was awarded the consulting contract to support the Reconstruction Fund for Areas Affected by Terroristic Operations (ReFAATO) in the management and monitoring of GCFI activities. ReFAATO is the primary Iraqi entity responsible for coordinating reconstruction operations in liberated territories of Iraq.

Administered by KfW Development Bank, the GCFI is to contribute towards permanently returning Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) to their home locations in Iraq. It will support investments in the restoration of local economic and social infrastructure, through rehabilitation, construction or supply of equipment.

The main objective of the assignment is to provide smooth and efficient management and monitoring support to ReFAATO in its role as Project Executing Agency, in all aspects relating to the implementation of the GCFI Programme.

HE Dr Mustafa Mohamed Amin Al-Hiti, President of ReFAATO, and Mr Mathias Lueg, Managing Director of GOPA Infra, signed the consulting contract at KfW headquarters in Frankfurt on 1 December 2017.

GOPA Infra recently organised and moderated the “atelier de démarrage”, the official kick-off for our EUR 3.4 million project "Programme for water supply and sanitation in small and medium towns in the regions of Boucle du Mouhoun, Cascades, Hauts-Bassins and Sud-Ouest". Representatives of the national water and wastewater utility ONEA, KfW as main donor, and various NGOs and IFIs participated at the one-day event in Bobo-Dioulasso. Altogether, almost 60 people attended this meeting, including all the mayors of the 16 beneficiary towns.

Aiming to extend infrastructure, particularly in the water supply sector, this project is the biggest German financial contribution to ONEA in the last decades. GOPA Infra is pleased to contribute to the long-standing engagement of the GOPA Consulting Group in Burkina Faso.

For more information, please contact Markus Daechert (markus.daechert@gopa-infra.de).

GOPA Infra is currently finalising the water component of the KfW-financed Social Investment Fund (IV) Programme, “Consulting Services for the Implementation of Training Activities for ADF (Albanian Development Fund) Key Training Staff in Albania”.

As one of the final capacity-building measures, a study tour took place from 21 to 24 May 2017, visiting three German water utilities in and around Pforzheim (Stadtwerke Pforzheim, Kommunalen Wasserversorgung Knittlingen and Kommunale Wasserversorgung Niefern-Öschelbronn). It was organised and implemented by EWEC Water GmbH. Fourteen Albanian ADF trainees, one water expert from GOPA Infra Albania, and one representative from GOPA Infra Germany attended the tour.

It was a great success; the Albanian ADF delegation and the German water utilities’ staff members enjoyed the international exchange highlighted by vivid discussions on economic and technical strategies from both sides.

GOPA Infra has recently won the jointly financed KfW Development Bank and Burkinabe water supply project called « Prestations de consultant dans le cadre du programme d’approvisionnement en eau potable et assainissement dans les petites et moyennes villes dans les régions de la Boucle du Mouhon, Cascades, Hauts-Bassin et Sud-Ouest». The project is part of a huge programme which aims primarily to establish, or to enhance in a sustainable way, the water supply systems in 16 middle-sized towns spread over four regions in the south-western part of Burkina Faso.

The project’s total budget is EUR 14.25m, and it is to be implemented within 55 months (including the 12-months defects notification period). The services to be rendered by GOPA Infra from its base in Bobo-Dioulasso will cover general technical assistance and engineering tasks (from preliminary studies to construction supervision), as well as accompanying measures to help making the substantial investments sustainable.

Together with its international and local joint-venture partners, GOPA Infra is looking forward to successfully implementing the project on behalf of ONEA, the beneficiary, and KfW Development Bank, the main international financing institution.

GOPA Infra held its final conference for the TA programme “Establishing Leadership Development Programmes for the HCWW & Developing its Financial Strategy” in Cairo thus bringing the two million Euro project funded by the European Union to a successful completion. The conference was attended by over 100 participants including the Chairman and Vice Chairmen of the Holding Company for Water and Wastewater (HCWW), HCWW and Affiliated Companies’ (ACs) staff as well as representatives of the European Union,  European Investment Bank, KfW Development Bank and Deutsche Gesellschaft fuer Internationale Zusammenarbeit (GIZ) GmbH.

It is the first integrated Leadership Development Programme building capacity in HCWW and the ACs in order to develop the next generation of utility managers. The programme has demonstrably strengthened institutional capacity by developing operation, maintenance and project management skills thus supporting HCWW plans to identify and promote future leaders. The programme has also developed a financial model and financial sustainability ‘roadmaps’ to enable decision-makers at HCWW and the ACs to determine the best possible options for achieving financial stability. Donor representatives asked for upscaling by replication and building on the momentum already generated.