Project Hub

Three large-scale infrastructure projects, backed by Nigerian industrialist Aliko Dangote and Turkish investors, are directing some $40bn towards East Africa's Indian Ocean trade ambitions. The investments are aimed at strengthening ports and trade corridors along the region's coastline, positioning East Africa as a bigger hub for Indian Ocean commerce. The scale of the funding and the involvement of high-profile backers have drawn attention across regional and global business circles.

India is strengthening the Siliguri Corridor, the narrow 22-km strip in West Bengal known as the Chicken's Neck that connects the northeast to the rest of the country, under a defence project worth over ₹530 crore. Plans reportedly include underground command hubs, air defence and long-range missile sites, bomb shelters, resilient underground rail capacity and expressway corridors. The move highlights the strategic sensitivity of the corridor, which borders Nepal, Bangladesh, Bhutan and China's Chumbi Valley nearby.

Tanga in Tanzania, Lamu in Kenya and Hoima in Uganda are competing to become East Africa's main energy hubs. Each port city is tied to major oil infrastructure plans, including refinery and pipeline projects linked to the region's crude exports, as Kenya, Tanzania and Uganda jostle for a central role in the region's growing petroleum trade.

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development is considering financing a large-scale solar and battery storage project in Egypt with a capacity in the gigawatt range. The potential backing would support Egypt's push to expand renewable energy capacity and grid stability, drawing interest given the country's growing role as a regional clean energy hub.

Romanian engineering company Dai-Tech expects solar power, energy storage and data centre projects to account for more than 65% of its turnover by 2027, the company said in an interview with SeeNews. The outlook points to a strategic shift toward energy infrastructure serving growing power demand, including from data hubs.

Brussels Airport has begun a €25 million renovation of the passenger boarding bridges at Pier A. The project will modernise the jet bridges that connect travellers to aircraft at the airport's main pier, with works carried out while operations continue. The investment is part of ongoing efforts to maintain and upgrade infrastructure at one of Europe's key hub airports.

Middletown, Ohio expects to break ground within 90 days on a $200 million entertainment hub, according to local reporting from FOX19 Cincinnati. The project is being billed as a major development for the city between Cincinnati and Dayton. Officials have not yet detailed a full opening timeline, and residents are watching to see whether the groundbreaking stays on schedule and what businesses the complex will bring.

Construction has started on a future centre of excellence dedicated to drones and autonomous weapons systems in France. The project, reported by RCF, aims to bring together defence technology and innovation under one hub. Discussion online is focused on what the facility means for the development of autonomous arms and European defence capability.

Kern County, California has approved a large solar-plus-storage project from developer Terra-Gen, combining 600MW of solar generation with 4GWh of battery storage. The development adds to the county's role as a major hub for renewable energy in California, where large-scale storage is increasingly paired with solar to help meet the state's clean electricity targets.

Renovations at the Ocean Terminal at the Port of Savannah are now 60 percent complete, according to a report in the trucking and freight press. The work is part of efforts to expand cargo capacity at one of the busiest container ports in the United States. Freight and logistics observers are following the project's progress and its implications for port operations.

Exus has acquired large-scale solar projects in Louisiana and Wisconsin from ibV Energy, targeting areas where data center expansion is driving electricity demand. The deal adds utility-scale renewable capacity in two US states that are becoming hubs for power-hungry data centers. The move reflects growing energy investment tied to the data center boom.