Home | News | ICC/FISH ESTIMATED BUDGET: FROM E370M TO E8.1 BILLION

ICC/FISH ESTIMATED BUDGET: FROM E370M TO E8.1 BILLION

03/03/2024 15:51:00 Ntombi Mhlongo

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MBABANE – Had construction projects been a world festival, Eswatini’s ICC/FISH would secure itself a ticket to sit in the golden circle of the most expensive ones.

This is because as the years of constructing the lavish structure increase, so are the costs. The ICC stands for the International Convention Centre while FISH refers to the Five Star Hotel.
With Minister of Finance Neal Rijkenberg having allocated the project about E1.1 billion for the next financial year commencing on April 1, 2024, the estimated cost of the project now stands at a staggering E8.1 billion. The figure comes from the fact that the Government Book of Estimates for the upcoming financial year reflects that the total estimated cost will stand at E5 300 983 000 for the ICC and E2 800 067 000 for FISH. Therefore, in total, the estimated cost for the two facilities is E8.1 billion.

When presenting the budget speech last Monday, the minister stated that government will be working towards operationalising the ICC in the financial year 2024/2025. He mentioned that the structure carried huge prospects of significantly boosting the tourism sector. The minister sounded determined that the ICC would be completed in the upcoming financial year. If managed well, he said it should give 0.25 per cent growth in the gross domestic product (GDP), with 0.75 per cent being realised in 2026 and 2027. Worth noting is that His Majesty King Mswati III also issued a directive that the project should be completed so that it could start boosting economic growth and the country’s tourism sector. While the minister is filled with determination, the taxpayer is bleeding and that has been the case for the past 12 years since the project was introduced to the nation.

At its inception in 2012, the estimated cost of the project stood at E370 million. Building the ICC was projected to cost the taxpayer a sum of E290 million while the estimated budget for FISH stood at E80 million. Then, the FISH was referred to as the millennium hotel. In the financial year (2012/2013), government released E65 million and E80 million, respectively, for both ICC and millennium hotel. Twelve years later, the project is still ongoing and the costs have been ballooning over the years. 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 ICC and FISH. 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.

consultancy fees

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. 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, as well as 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. Bulk earthworks, piling, civil works and the patented wall will cost a combined figure of E576 143 393, while designs and supervision was 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 as well as payment of VAT. Come financial year 2021/2022, which began on April 1, the total estimated cost of the ICC&FISH project was placed at E6 448 736 000. This was about E400 million more than the E5.99 billion that was projected. The ICC alone was now set to cost E4 073 149 000 while the FISH’s cost had now been placed at E2 375 587 000.

The Book of Government Estimates at the time reflected that a further E1 billion had been allocated to the project for the 2021/2022 financial year. Of this E1 billion, an amount of E790 million was specifically for the construction of the ICC; and this figure consisted of consultancy fees, construction of the main buildings, the interior and payment of VAT. For the FISH, E305 million in local funds had 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.

allocation increased

For the year 2022/2023, government pumped in E800 million where the Book of Estimates reflected that the money was categorised into two: E624 447 817 loan of funds and E176 million local funds. The E800 million allocation increased the estimated total cost of the project to about E7.3 billion, and this will escalate to E8.1 billion for the next financial year. It should be noted that while the nation awaits to see if the ICC will be completed in the next financial year as assured by the Finance minister, annual performance report of the Ministry of Economic Planning and Development for the financial year 2023/24 mentions that the revised practical completion date is now December 2024. It is highlighted that the interior fitout is currently at 42 per cent, while the overall progress is 83 per cent complete. “Works on both the high-end and general areas are progressing well and these include the ceiling boards installation, plastering, mouldings, ceiling decorative detailing and applying of base paint,” reads part of the annual performance report.

It is also highlighted that the installation of the wall cladding is complete in the small conference rooms and other important rooms. Also, wall and floor marble polishing is said to be complete in most of the high-end areas, while fittings including sanitary and building services are almost complete in all the rooms. In terms of challenges, the annual performance report states that the process of having the EXIM Bank money being disbursed was delaying, something which government had not anticipated. “The current budget allocation under local resources has been exhausted, any claim for work done cannot be paid under the prevailing situation,” the report mentioned. The ICC&FISH project stands on land said to be measuring 40 000 square metres and the convention centre will host up to 4 500 delegates; while the FISH linked to it currently has about 283 rooms on six floors.

When the total estimated cost reached E6.4 billion in 2021, this publication analysed that the ICC&FISH was set to become, by far, the most expensive building in the entire African continent. A comparison was done with other expensive structures, one of them being the Kigali Convention Centre, which is said to have been built at a cost of US$300 million (about E4.5 billion). Another structure which was used for the comparison was the 234-metre Leonardo skyscraper in Sandton (Johannesburg), South Africa, which was 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.