24 May, 2024
On Africa Day 2024, Incatema celebrates 25 years of work in Africa. It was in 1999, in Sao Tome and Principe, and commissioned by the Spanish Agency for International Cooperation, AECID, when Incatema carried out its first work in Africa: a consultancy for the subsequent development of an irrigated pepper production project.
Since then, it has worked in many countries, contributing to sustainable development in sectors of particular relevance such as agriculture, fisheries and water infrastructure.
In the field of sustainable agriculture and fishing, Incatema’s collaboration with the Angolan government, which is still in force today, is particularly noteworthy. It has led to the execution of important consulting projects, such as those developed within the Commercial Agriculture Development Program (PDAC), which has provided access to bank financing for small local agricultural entrepreneurs. In addition, Incatema has executed important turnkey infrastructure projects in many sectors such as coffee, tomato, banana or different cereals, and has executed works such as the construction of greenhouses, silos, food processing factories or the implementation of irrigation projects.
During these years, and also in the agricultural sector, Incatema has developed important projects in other African countries: irrigation in Ghana, pepper and vanilla development in Sao Tome and Principe, goat production also in Sao Tome and Principe, aquaculture in Gabon and Cameroon, development of artisanal fishing in Senegal, feasibility study to expand the activity of aquaculture producers in Cameroon, or the Ecofish program, funded by the European Union to ensure the sustainable management of fishery resources in East and Southern Africa and the Indian Ocean.
In the area of water infrastructure, Incatema has completed major projects in Senegal. Specifically, the rehabilitation and expansion of the Camberène treatment plant, together with the construction of the submarine outfall that carries the treated water from this plant to the open sea, as well as other drinking water supply projects in various locations throughout the country.
The implementation of these projects is contributing to the progress and improvement of the quality of life and living conditions in the African countries where the company operates. This activity has not been free of difficulties of all kinds, from the complexity of structuring financing for the projects, relying on different export credit insurance agencies, to the issuance of guarantees for the execution of the projects, or logistical problems. However, Incatema’s firm will to contribute to the development of the countries in which it operates, together with the vast and valuable experience accumulated over the last twenty-five years, will be the driving force that will make us continue working to contribute to the development of these countries.