Major infrastructure, including a highway interchange, has been constructed at the Coega Industrial Development Zone at Port Elizabeth in South Africa.

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ne barometer of investment in South Africa is the double- digit growth in cement demand. Pretoria Portland Cement, one of Africa's leading suppliers of cement with seven manufacturing facilities in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe, saw regional sales grow by 17 percent during its last fiscal year.
   "Buoyant market conditions have driven cement demand to record levels," said John Gomersall, PPC's CEO. "The South African, together with neighboring states', cement consumption is now at the same level as the United Kingdom."
   To meet that demand, PPC is adding 1.2 million tons of cement capacity at its Batsweledi facility.
   Early estimates on FDI inflows to Africa for 2006 by the United Nations Conference on Trade & Development (UNCTAD), indicate the record level of 2005 was exceeded. During 2005, the continent received FDI of US$31 billion, with South Africa the largest recipient, with $6.4 billion. FDI on the continent rose to $38 billion in 2006, with Egypt, Morocco, Nigeria and South Africa leading the way.    Much of this investment is related to the continent's oil and gas and other natural resources. That continues in 2007 with Brazilian petrochemical company Petrobras announcing in January $64 million in oil exploration and production projects in Angola, where the economy is striving amid political stability.
   Projects in South Africa cut across a variety of industrial and natural resource sectors, including a business process outsourcing sector that employs about 80,000 people at 70 companies.
   Global aluminum company Alcan is moving closer to construction on its $2.7- billion Coega aluminum smelter. Construction is expected to begin on the greenfield project in 2008 with production to begin by 2010.
   India's largest private- sector steel company, Tata Steel, began construction of its $92- million Ferrochrome plant at Richards Bay. The plant, scheduled to be commissioned during the fourth quarter of 2007, will create 130 jobs. Tata is already considering doubling the size of the plant from two furnaces to four. That decision will be made after the first year of operation.    Egypt's annual pharmaceutical market is pegged at $1.6 billion. Multinational companies supply about 65 percent of the market. AstraZeneca is seeking to capture more of that market with the opening of a $32- million tablet factory near Cairo. It is the company's first manufacturing investment in the Middle East. The 7,000- sq.- m. (75,400 sq.- ft.) facility will manufacture products for treatment of cardiovascular disease, cancer and psychiatric disorders. It will have three production lines with a capacity of 250 million tablets, expandable to 400 million tablets.
   "This is a strong signal of our commitment to invest in the region and our confidence in Egypt, which has seen good economic progress following new government reforms," said David Brennan, AstraZeneca CEO.
   Egypt fully adopted the WTO "TRIPS" agreement protecting intellectual property rights beginning on Jan. 1, 2005. AstraZeneca has identified Egypt as one of the key emerging markets for further development in the company's regional expansion strategy. Employment at AstraZeneca's Egypt Marketing Company has more than doubled over the last two years to 350.
   Elsewhere, Cargill is building a cocoa processing facility in the port city of Tema in Ghana, West Africa, to produce cocoa liquor, butter and powder. Initial capacity will be 60,000 tons with the potential to double.
   "As a major cocoa processor, it is important that we continue to invest in order to meet the growing needs of our cocoa customers," said Paul Naar, head of Cargill's food ingredient business in Europe and Africa. "The quality of Ghanian cocoa beans is excellent."
   Also on the west coast, Iranian auto builder Iran Khodro has announced that it will begin manufacturing cars in Senegal by early 2008. Plans call for the plant to assemble up to 10,000 cars for export to West African countries. Philip Morris also has Senegal in its plans, as it builds a $25- million factory to manufacture cigarettes for the region.