In Africa, a road built by Chinese construction is well known to every household. It crossed the no-man's land and took 8 years to complete the construction. As the only transportation route connecting the political center and the economic center of Congo (Brazzaville), it has greatly improved the country's land transportation level and is known as the "dream road" by the local people.
This is the Congo (Brazzaville) National Highway 1 project, which is an important achievement of the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation and the largest infrastructure project under the package of cooperation projects between the Chinese and Congolese governments. After the project was completed, it successively won the 2018-2019 National Quality Project Award and the 2020 China Construction Engineering Luban Award (Overseas Project).
On March 6, 2022, the third anniversary of the official operation of National Highway 1 in Congo (Brazzaville), the scale of the operation team participated by CSCEC has been gradually improved, and the revenue capacity has steadily improved. A successful attempt was made along the way.
From construction to operation
African countries generally lack the concept of road maintenance, which usually causes the service life of the road to be far less than expected, thus affecting the project acceptance. The Congo (Brazzaville) National Highway 1 constructed by China State Construction is also facing the same dilemma.
In order to break the deadlock, while taking the opportunity to absorb advanced international experience, deploy industrial expansion, and promote the transformation and upgrading of overseas business, China State Construction put forward a "franchising" proposal to the Congolese government, and cooperated with the internationally renowned road operation company - French Aijisi The engineering design consulting and supervision company (hereinafter referred to as the French EGIS company) formed a consortium to respond to the bidding of the No. 1 highway franchise project.
At that time, the Chinese and French governments issued the "Sino-French Joint Statement on Third-Party Market Cooperation", and the document proposed the concept of "third-party market cooperation" for the first time. Under the guidance of the statement, China State Construction, French EGIS and the Congolese (Brazzaville) government jointly established the Congolese (Brazzaville) National Highway No. 1 Concession Project Company (hereinafter referred to as LCR) to carry out major projects such as toll operation, road maintenance and overhaul projects. business, and quietly turn difficulties into opportunities.
On March 1, 2019, the National Highway 1 franchise project was officially launched. Congo (Brazzaville) President Sassou announced the vehicle toll rate for the National Highway 1 franchise project and paid the first toll in person. This marks the official launch of the toll collection work on the whole line of Highway 1, and also marks the successful launch of China State Construction's first overseas highway TOT mode franchise project, which has laid a solid foundation for the future implementation of the project.
From startup to recovery
On the desk of Shi Honggang, Chairman of China Construction International Central and West Africa Company, a group photo of LCR members is eye-catching. Behind the smiling faces in the photos are the unknown efforts made by Chinese overseas builders for the normal operation of the highway.
In March 2019, the toll collection of Highway 1 was officially launched. In order to reduce the public sentiment caused by "free to charge" and balance the interests of the transport chambers, LCR once charged half-price toll stations that have already started operation, delayed the start-up plan of the toll stations to be opened, and even shut down two just started operation. toll. This has caused a great blow to the enthusiasm of the company's employees.
Facing the pressure brought by all levels of the Congolese society, all members of the LCR rose to the challenge and actively communicated with all parties with the support of the Congolese government. Transporters and local residents have gradually realized that although road traffic has begun to charge, due to the safe and smooth operation and maintenance, the transportation time and cost are greatly reduced, which provides sufficient potential for the development of the transportation industry; although it seems that the cost of living has increased Yes, but Highway 1 has driven many small markets along the route, promoted the birth of the entire industrial chain, and created more possibilities for the income of residents along the route.
The actions of the LCR have gradually been recognized by the Congolese society. In August 2019, the chairman of the Congolese (Brazzaville) Transport Chamber of Commerce publicly expressed his support for the LCR operation toll collection in the local news media. The Congolese people's resistance to road tolling has subsequently melted, and the closed toll stations have been restarted one after another. March 6, 2020, the first anniversary of the operation of Highway 1. Traffic data has been steadily rising. "Looking back now, it was an unforgettable process." Shi Honggang said with emotion.
From cooperation to development
EGIS is the second largest engineering consulting company in France, with business fields covering 150 countries and regions around the world, with advanced road operation experience. China State Construction held several rounds of discussions with EGIS on project operation cooperation, and invited an internationally renowned appraisal firm to conduct a professional appraisal on the profitability of No. 1 Road.
The core business of the project company adopts the professional subcontracting model, that is, the operation business is carried out by the French EGIS company, giving full play to its advantages in local employee management and government negotiation and price adjustment; daily maintenance and overhaul are carried out by China State Construction, giving full play to the Chinese side in the field of construction and construction. Advantage. Through complementary advantages, the Chinese side's manufacturing capabilities are combined with the French side's operational experience and management philosophy to provide the Congolese side with high-level, cost-effective and more competitive products and services, so as to achieve a "win-win situation for all parties".
The growing LCR has also assumed certain social responsibilities. While addressing a large number of employment needs, it regularly sends condolences to local orphanages and disabled associations. During the epidemic, LCR made every effort to ensure the operation of 11 toll stations, including branch lines, and the maintenance of 535 kilometers of roads, making Highway 1 a "life supply line" for cities along the line.
On March 6, 2022, the LCR officially marked the third anniversary of its operation. Shi Honggang said that in the past three years, the scale of the operation team has been improving, and the revenue capacity has steadily improved, which has laid a solid foundation for further tempering the international team in the future, and has also made a successful attempt for Chinese enterprises to transform their overseas business and create a multi-party cooperation model.Editor/XuNing
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