10 Oct 2024

Successful completion of the road loading and offloading gantry for the Francistown Oil storage project has been hailed as a significant milestone in the country’s efforts to provide a contingency supply of petroleum products, in line with the Essential Supplies programme, says Minister of Minerals and Energy, Mr Lefoko Moagi.

Mr Moagi said at yesterday’s  official opening of the gantry at Dumela Industrial in Francistown that the facility, the first and biggest of its kind in Botswana, was a showcase and living example of the tangible results from Botswana Oil.

In addition, Minister Moagi noted that the state-owned enterprise’s resolve to undertake the project resonated well with the government’s energy policy, which demanded a reliable and sustainable manner of sourcing and storage of petroleum products to ensure security of supply.

Construction of the Francistown depot expansion started in September 2022 after government-sanctioned Botswana Oil Limited to increase supply of petroleum products.

The development of the Francistown facility entailed other infrastructure developments, such as the construction of the tank farm, rail offloading facility, and office building, in addition to the road loading and offloading gantry.

The Francistown project was delivered in two phases, and four contracts were awarded to different contractors.

Phase One of the project included mechanical and civil works at a cost of approximately P219 million and has since been completed. The second phase comprises civil works and construction of four fuel storage tanks with a total capacity of 60 million litres, with a total sum contract for both phase two contracts at over P434.6 million.

Minister Moagi relayed in his keynote address that citizens have been contracted through strategic partnerships to deliver some of the project’s works, with  over P213 million already spent on citizen contractors.

“I am delighted that employment created during the project so far is 452 people, including artisans from Francistown and neighbouring villages,” he said.

He informed his audience in particular that for the road offloading and loading gantry, which came at a cost of  P81.8 million the main contractor had engaged a total of seven sub-contractors, out of which five were citizen contractors while only two were international contractors.

According to Minister Moagi, the social and economic benefits derived from projects such as this one could not be overemphasised, and the government believed state-owned enterprises like Botswana Oil were better placed to facilitate citizen empowerment.

“The involvement of citizen and local companies through joint ventures or any form of partnership provides for skill transfer, development and capacity building, which makes it easier for these companies to offer maintenance services post-completion of the project,” he said.

Once completed, the Francistown depot will increase the country’s fuel storage capacity to the desired 60 days to 90 days cover. ENDS