Home | News | ICC&FISH: FROM E370M TO E6.4BN

ICC&FISH: FROM E370M TO E6.4BN

28/02/2021 00:21:00 BY WELCOME DLAMINI

Font size:

MBABANE – Luxury comes at a price – and so does the ICC&FISH.

But as to what the cost will be when the International Convention Centre and the Five Star Hotel construction project is completed, no one can be sure because the amount of this state-of-the-art infrastructure development keeps rising year in, year out.

When this project commenced in 2012, government estimated that it would cost around E370 million; with the ICC expected to set the taxpayer back by E290 million and the FISH anticipated to be completed for the amount of E80 million.

Then, the FISH was referred to as the Millennium Hotel.

That financial year (2012/2013), E65 million and E80 million in local funds for the ICC and Millennium Hotel were released, respectively.

Fast forward

Fast forward to 2021 – nine years later – the project is still ongoing and the cost is far beyond the E370 million; this figure is now a mere fraction of what this project is now forecasted to cost.

It is no longer millions but billions that are now synonymous with this infrastructure development.

The ICC&FISH project stands on land said to measure 40 000 square metres and the convention centre will host up to 4 500 delegates; while the five-star hotel linked to it currently has about 283 rooms on six floors.

The Book of Government Budget Estimates for the years from April 1, 2021 to March 31, 2024, which Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg tabled in parliament on Friday alongside the Appropriation Bill, shows that the ICC&FISH is now projected to cost the country an estimated E6.4 billion.

This figure is around E6 billion more than the initial cost that was projected in the year 2012.

The money for the project began to escalate during the 2015/2016 financial year, when the estimated cost rose to E1.255 billion and the name of the Millennium Hotel changed to FISH.

For that year, an amount of E412 million was budgeted for both the convention centre and the hotel.

The following year (2016/2017), the projected cost of the project increased to around E1.9 billion; an amount of E479 million was released for the payment of consultancy fees, professional fees and works.

In 2017/2018, the project’s total estimated cost went up to E2 489 590 000; and an amount of E721 800 000 was released for payment of consultancy fees, works and purchasing of land for the ICC&FISH.

estimated cost

In the financial year 2018/2019, the total estimated cost was hiked to E4.8 billion; with E522 million being released to pay for the ICC’s civil works, consultancy fees, furniture and fittings; and E989 million went to FISH.

Then in the financial year 2019/2020, the estimated cost of the project was first maintained at E4.8 billion; with the ICC set to cost around E2.5 billion and the FISH at approximately E2.3 billion.

A total of E1 235 880 000 was released for construction, consultancy fees, and payment of Value Added Tax (VAT) for the ICC.

For the FISH, E634 million (E170 million and E464 million) was released for construction of the hotel, payment of land acquisition, construction fees, design and supervision, civil works and landscaping, and VAT.

At the E4.8 billion cost, the ICC&FISH was already set to become the most expensive building in the entire African continent.

The Ministry of Economic Planning and Development then revealed later that year in its second quarter performance that the project would cost E5 473 195 950.

This was an increase of E636 015 950 from the E4 837 180 000 projected in the Book of Government Estimates for that year.

According to that performance report from the ministry, the ICC cost had been revised to E1 902 441 160 while the FISH was set to cost E2 347 042 318.

combined figure

Bulk earthworks, piling, civil works and the patented wall will cost a combined figure of E576 143 393 while designs and supervision were set to cost E620 569 079.

This then totalled E5.47 billion.

But when the 2020/2021 financial year came, the total estimated cost for the project again went up to E5.99 billion.

For the ICC, the estimated cost was put at E3 618 149 000; with an amount of E737 609 000 released for the construction of the main buildings, payment of consultancy fees, interior and settling VAT.

The FISH, on the other hand, had its total estimated cost set at E2 375 587 000; and E240 million was released for the payment of land acquisition, payment of construction fees, design and supervision, civil works and landscaping, and payment of VAT.

Come financial year 2021/2022, which begins on April 1, the total estimated cost of the ICC&FISH project has been placed at E6 448 736 000.

This is about E400 million more than the E5.99 billion that was projected in the 2020/2021 financial year.

The ICC alone is now set to cost E4 073 149 000 while the FISH’s cost has now been placed at E2 375 587 000.

According to the Book of Government Estimates, a further E1 billion has been allocated to the project for 2021/2022 financial year.

Value Added Tax

Of this E1 billion, an amount of E790 million is specifically for the construction of the ICC; and this figure consists of consultancy fees, construction of the main buildings, the interior and payment of Value Added Tax (VAT).

For the FISH, E305 million in local funds has been allocated for the completion of the hotel’s buildings.

The actual expenditure (money already spent) for the ICC as at March 31, 2020 was reported to be E1.875 billion while E1.58 billion had been spent on the FISH.

Auditor General Timothy Sipho Matsebula, in his report for the year ended March 31, 2020, which was also tabled in parliament on Friday, has questioned an amount of E499 million that was used without authority in the construction of the ICC&FISH.

Of this amount, Matsebula noted that E494 527 610 went towards the construction of FISH (Project G616/63) and E3 500 151.23 went into the construction of the ICC (Project G585/63).

actual expenditures

“These projects had no budget released but incurred actual expenditures,” the AG says in his report.

According to the AG, when he enquired from the controlling officer (Principal Secretary Bheki Bhembe) about the unauthorised expenditure, he only got an explanation about the money spent on the FISH.

“With regards to Project G616/63, the controlling officer explained that at the time of the mid-term forecast 2018, the anticipated expenditure was E464 million; however, more funds were required during the financial year under review, hence the actual expenditure incurred was E494 527 610,” Matsebula wrote in his report.

He highlighted that ‘the controlling officer did not comment on the actual expenditures for Project G585/63 – construction of International Convention Centre and Five Star…’

Matsebula’s enquiry directed to PS Bhembe revealed that the ICC&FISH had a standoff with the Eswatini Revenue Authority after the latter detained some of the project’s imported material because of tax issues.

“He (PS) stated that there was no projected expenditure on Project G585/63 during the period audited; however, there were amounts remaining in the project accounts of both the ICC and Five Star Hotel at Central Bank. Funds were required to avert a crisis on the project in which material had been ordered by the contractor from Taiwan but could not be paid and was held at customs.

As such an amount of E16 300 000 was required to release the material,” reads the AG’s report.

At the E6.4 billion (about US$426m) estimated total cost, the ICC&FISH will become by far the most expensive building in the entire African continent.

This figure makes it surpass the current expensive building in Africa – the Kigali Convention Centre, which was built at a cost of US$300 million (about E4.5 billion when calculated at the latest Lilangeni-Dollar exchange rate).

tallest building

Apart from the KCC, the ICC&FISH will also be costlier than the 234-metre Leonardo skyscraper in Sandton (Johannesburg), South Africa, which has been built at a cost of E3 billion (US$200 million) and is now the tallest building in Africa, overtaking the Carlton Centre in Johannesburg’s central business district.

Another expensive building that is dwarfed by the ICC&FISH is the Bibliotheca Alexandrina - a US$220 million (E3.3 billion) major library located on the shore of the Mediterranean Sea in the Egyptian city of Alexandria.

Another expensive building that falls short of the ICC&FISH’s worth is the African Union Conference Centre and Office Complex.

This building, which is the African Union headquarters, is located in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, and was funded by China at a reported cost of US$200 million.

The building is said to be 99.9 metres tall, has 20 floors and is the tallest structure in the Ethiopian capital.

The Corinthia Hotel located in Tripoli, Libya, is another luxurious building that however does not match the cost of the ICC&FISH.

most expensive

Reportedly constructed at a cost of US$152 million (about E228 billion), the building, which was originally known as Corinthia Bab Africa Hotel, is a five-star skyscraper that was opened in 2003 and is considered the most expensive luxury hotel in Africa.

It is said to stand tall at 100.48 metres and has 28 floors.

In the city of Cape Town in South Africa there is the Portside Tower building which is said to be the city’s first significant skyscraper, having been opened in 2014.

Jointly owned by First Rand Bank and Old Mutual, the building reportedly cost a whopping US$138 million (about E2.07 billion).

With 32 floors and space to accommodate 3 000 people, the structure is described as uniquely covered in blue glass and the first tower of its kind to have the least amount of energy consumption.

Also costing US$138 million is 31-floor spectacular residential resort known as The Pearls of Umhlanga in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa, which offers luxury apartments and penthouses.