Tahal Group, Together with Its Partner, ZRB Company, Will Carry out Three Agricultural Projects in Angola, with a Total Value of over NIS 1 Billion
09/05/17
These agreements are in addition to the agreement announced by TAHAL earlier this week, in which TAHAL, together with ZRB, will carry out a similar project for the Government of Zambia with a total value of about NIS 640 million. While implementation of each of the projects in Angola is not dependent upon the implementation of the other projects, implementation is dependent upon achieving financial closure.
Saar Bracha, TAHAL's CEO: "Within one week, TAHAL and ZRB signed four significant agreements in Africa, with a total value of NIS 1.7 billion. This is an extraordinary expression of confidence by the Governments of Angola and Zambia in the agricultural village model that we developed and successfully implemented in the Quiminha project in Angola. Upon achieving financial closure, TAHAL Group's backlog of orders will reach a record high of nearly NIS 4 billion."
TAHAL Group, the infrastructure unit of Kardan N.V. Group, continues to reap success in Africa, in the fields of water and agriculture. TAHAL and its partner in Angola and Zambia, ZRB Consulting Finance & Development Limited, have signed three agreements for the development and construction of three projects for agricultural development in three areas in Angola, with a total value of about NIS 1.05 billion (about USD 291 million). The agreements were signed with Gesterra - Gestão de Terras AráveisS.A., a government-owned company, and they involve the implementationof large-scale agricultural projects in the Cabinda, Huambo and Lunda Sul provinces. The three projects are separate, such that the implementation of any one of them is not dependent upon implementation of the others. The revenues from each of the projects will be equally divided between TAHAL and its partner.
According to the report issued by Kardan N.V., the goal of each of the projects is the development of a regional agricultural centre, with each project including the design and construction of a number of farms, irrigated and drip-irrigated cultivation areas, net houses and greenhouses, chicken hatcheries, chicken coops, a logistics centre and a training centre.
The construction period for each of the projects is expected to be 32 months. Payment will be spread out in quarterly payments corresponding to project milestones. The execution of each of the projects is dependent upon receiving the required financing for the client.
These agreements are in addition to another significant agreement announced by TAHAL earlier this week, in which TAHAL and its partner, ZRB, will design and build an agricultural and water project for the Government of Zambia for about NIS 640 million (about USD 176 million), which will be divided equally between TAHAL and ZRB. The implementation of the project is dependent upon fulfillment of several conditions, with the key condition being the achievement of financial closure for the project by the Government of Zambia.
The expected revenues of each of the projects will add to – following fulfillment of the dependent conditions – TAHAL's backlog of orders, which currently amounts to about NIS 2.2 billion. Upon achievement of financial closure for each of the three projects in Angola and the project in Zambia, TAHAL's backlog of orders will reach a record high of about NIS 4 billion.
The three projects are based on an agricultural village model that TAHAL has implemented in Angola, and currently operates together with its partner, ZRB, and which TAHAL is also expected to implement in Zambia, in accordance with the agreement signed this week. The Quiminha project in Angola, located about 45 km east of Luanda, the capital city, extends over an area of about 50,000 dunam (5,000 ha). The project includes 300 individual farms; thousands of dunam of open-field crops; greenhouses and net houses; chickenfarming; a logistics and agricultural centre;and a system for product marketing and sales. The project was handed over to the Government of Angola during the past year, following which TAHAL and ZRB signed a 7-year contract for management and operation of the settlement. According to the operation agreement, TAHAL and ZRB are entitled to all of the proceeds from the sales of the settlement's agricultural output. TAHAL's revenues from this project are expected to be about USD 370 million over the course of the contract period.
Saar Bracha, TAHAL's CEO, stated: "Within one week, TAHAL signed, together with ZRB, four significant agreements in Africa, with a total value of NIS 1.7 billion. This is an extraordinary expression of confidence by the Governments of Angola and Zambia in the partnership between the companies, and in the agricultural village model that we developed and successfully implemented in the Quiminha project in Angola, and we believe that other governments in Africa are considering the implementation of the model."
About TAHAL:
TAHAL – under the management of Saar Bracha,and selected by D&B for the third year in a row as the largest engineering company in Israel – is a subsidiary of Kardan N.V., a holding company traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange and on the Euronext Stock Exchangein Amsterdam. In recent years, under the management ofSaar Bracha, TAHAL underwent a strategic and structural change, and today the company is active in four core areas – water & wastewater, agricultural development, natural gas and the environment.