Global contracting giant Kharafi Group has a presence throughout Africa, arriving in The Gambia in 2003, where it has a number of mega-projects underway to boost development

you start out in the Balkans. Catch a flight in Sofia Airport, Bulgaria, hop on over to Albania, landing in the snow at Rinas Airport. It’s cold but you’ve got some comfort in mind. You’re booked at the Sheraton Tirana Hotel & Towers. A cab travels over the 25 kilometers or so to the city center and you’re getting the five-star treatment in no time. After a drink in one of the bars, you go for a swim. For dinner, you’ve got a treat planned – the Chateau Linza on the outskirts of the city near Dajti Mountain. As you dine on some of the best gourmet food in those parts, your gaze lingers on the lights of Tirana spread like jewels before you.
No time to waste, though. You’ve got business in Beirut. You pick up your rental in the underground parking at Beirut International Airport and speed off to the Four Seasons. Next day, you’re driving down the Latakia Ariha Highway in Syria on your way to Aleppo. More business. You check into the Bab Al-Faraj Sheraton. Next it’s the Marsa Alam International Airport in Egypt, some diving while you stay at the Coral Beach Al-Arish Resort, a layover in the Male International Airport in The Maldives before on to South Africa, where you stay in the Sheraton in Pretoria. Finally, you arrive in The Gambia.

You touch down at Banjul International Airport, your window offering tantalizing glimpses of the North Atlantic. You head for the five-star Kairaba Beach Hotel & Resort, and the golden sands of Kololi beach, just twenty minutes from the airport in the Kombos tourist area. After checking in, you visit the health club. Then it’s another dip in the pool, where you have a drink at the pool bar. It’s been a great trip, and one that has, in fact, been brought to you by Kuwait’s Kharafi Group – the company that built all of the above.

A multi-national company with an annual turnover of $5 billion and a workforce of over 100,000 employees working in 28 countries, Kharafi Group (MAK) is a Grade A international contractor. Not only the name behind a number of the world’s airports and hotels, Kharafi Group has also constructed many of its hospitals, housing developments, irrigation systems, water treatment plants, oil and gas pipelines and ports. MAK is a majority shareholder in Americana, the largest and most successful restaurant and food manufacturing company in the Middle East, owner of Albania Airlines, and has majority investments in a number of Kuwait’s leading financial institutions and listed companies. Its diversified activities worldwide include infrastructure development, real estate, agro-industries, manufacturing, investment and tourism development.

Active, of course, in Kuwait and the greater Gulf region, where it was founded as a trading company more than 100 years ago, Kharafi has established a growing presence in south-eastern Europe, the Caribbean and Africa, arriving in The Gambia in 2003.

Mohamed Nagaty, West Africa area manager for the group, says that The Gambia is promising, and in comparison to its neighbors, very progressive. “We are very optimistic about the growth of the country, and we expect to develop more projects. Really, I am impressed. The country is very open. The government is very helpful in terms of promoting investment and providing the environment conducive for business. It is one of the better countries in this regard.”

Nagaty says Kharafi, which currently has projects in construction, tourism and agriculture in The Gambia, initially entered the country to fulfill a corporate mission of contributing to development in lesser developed regions. “It’s not just about making a profit,” he adds. “We are creating opportunities and generating employment. 99% of the manpower that we use is local. We promote knowledge transfer and leadership on how to construct complicated projects.”

In infrastructure development, Kharafi has been building highways on both the north and south banks of the Gambia River. The south bank road construction in particular, says Nagaty, should help ease transport in the country, and allow Gambians better access to the interior as well as to neighboring Senegal. Kharafi is also the main contractor on the Banjul Airport renovation, phase one of which it expects to complete this spring. Comprising a complete runway upgrade (the Gambian airport has one of the longest runways in Africa), the work will enable greater flight capacity for the capital’s airport, effectively boosting tourism.

“Other than road projects, we are also involved in the first branded 5-star project in The Gambia, the Sheraton. We are the employer and the contractor, working with Starwood. It was a $45 million project, and this is its first year of operations. So far, it has helped promote tourism, attracting a whole new breed of tourists into the country. It also gives The Gambia an edge in hosting the African Summit successfully.”

It is in agriculture, however, that Kharafi is perhaps making its most significant mark in the country. It has invested more than $6 million in farms and packaging plants that produce a variety of fresh vegetables for export to Europe. More importantly, they also provide food security at home.

Nagaty comments, “There should be fewer problems in terms of importing food and dealing with the complications of transport. If you have a steady source of food internally, you are safe. This is one of the reasons behind this strategic decision. Secondly, the country will save a lot in terms of foreign currency because they do not have to import. Thirdly, we are generating employment. This is quite labor-intensive, especially in terms of harvesting, packing, etc. Fourthly, we intend to train the surrounding farmers or villagers in how to plant onions and potatoes so they can do it on their own in their own farms in order to improve local production.”