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Metito involved in high profile strategic municipal water projects as economic recovery indicates new investment opportunities

07 April, 2015 – Metito, the leader and provider of choice for total intelligent water management solutions in emerging markets, has announced its participation in four strategic municipal water projects in Egypt worth more than EGP220 million.

Buoyed by a series of reforms by Egypt’s current government, the economic recovery of Egypt has taken robust steps in recent months as highlighted at the well-received Egyptian Economic Conference earlier last month. This positive wave of change has led to increased investment in many sectors, bringing back to life several infrastructure projects previously put on hold, as well as facilitating new ones.

Metito’s regional headquarters in Africa is based in Egypt, where the company has been active for many years developing sustainable projects in many strategic locations. Commenting on the healthy market activity Egypt has recently been witnessing, Karim Madwar, Metito Africa Managing Director, said: “Egypt will always be a key developing market for Metito and for the water and wastewater industry due to its strategic location, population growth and its inherent need for critical sustainable infrastructure solutions and facilities for both municipal and industrial applications.

“Concluding several years of political and economic volatility, Egypt’s economic recovery is now becoming steady with clear resurgence of smaller scale municipal projects important to the continued industrial development of the country, as well as large municipal projects critical to bigger needs of the Egyptian community; residential and commercial sectors alike. The projects we have been recently awarded are just four examples of this upturn that we see continuing,” he added.

With a longstanding partnership, the National Organisation for Potable Water and Sanitary Drainage (NOPWASD) assigned Metito the Arymon Waste Water Treatment Plant (WWTP) and the Shahidy Sewage Treatment Plant (STP), which are expected to be completed in 2016.

El Gharbia Company for Water and Waste Water, a division of HCWW, has also contracted Metito to perform a reconstruction and extension of the Muhalla Water Treatment Plant in El Mahalla El Kobra City. The multimillion Egyptian pound project will see Metito build a new 70,000 m3/per day plant to treat water from the Nile River using Pulsator technology as a supplement to the two existing treatment plants. This plant is being developed as a sustainable treatment solution that is also cost effective as compared to refurbishing the existing plants dating from 1920 and 1970 respectively, and losing on non-revenue water from possible obsolete facilities.

The Toshka Compact Surface Water Treatment Plant for The New Urban Communities Authority (NUCA), is the last of the four strategic project recently awarded and is set to be completed in Q4 2015.

Madwar concluded: “Our commitment to Egypt and to the Egyptians has never been compromised and we are now looking to play a role in helping the country leave the bottom of the investment cycle as we look forward to many more projects in the pipeline.”

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Metito wins the ‘Best Strategic Partnership – Asia’ award

The Top Transactions of the Year Awards 2015 have now been announced by Dealfeed International.  This year, Metito has been announced the winner of the ‘Best Strategic Partnership – Asia’ award for Mitsubishi Corporation, Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, and Japan Bank for International Cooperation acquisition of stake in Metito.

The awards celebrate the significant deals of all types and values, from mergers and acquisitions to IPOs and funding, that took place globally. The deals that were posted on DealFeed International over the last 12 months have been evaluated by Acquisition International Global Media Group team of analysts and nominees were shortlisted based on this review in addition to the number of views each deal receives. The reviewing panel also takes into consideration: deal volume, value, complexity and sectorial activity within the region when recognising the biggest achievers.

Dealfeed Intl. is part of a global publishing group based in the UK with a database of over 53,000 readers worldwide.

Congratulations Metito!

The project will see treated water used for irrigation in the Dubai Land community

30 October, 2014 – Metito, the leader and provider of choice for total intelligent water management solutions in the emerging markets, has been awarded the Living Legends community wastewater treatment project. The project assigned by Tanmiyat Group includes the design and build of an underground sewage treatment plant for this new Dubai Land development, located along Sheikh Mohammed Bin Zayed Road.

The new plant will have the capacity to treat 3,600 m3/day of domestic waste with the treated water then being used to accommodate the community’s irrigation, and possibly district cooling needs.

Metito was chosen by Tanmiyat Group for its wealth of experience in wastewater treatment and water recycling solutions, making it the ideal partner for supporting the development of the Living Legends community.

With Dubai Expo 2020 preparations on-going, the Living Legends locale will grow rapidly, requiring a solid and sustainable infrastructure to be in place which is able to evolve in parallel with the community.

Metito developed a state of the art design for the underground sewage treatment plant, which will be employing the latest Membrane Bio Reactor (MBR) technologies.

Recycled wastewater to be used in district cooling systems to reduce the eco footprint of Downtown Dubai

25June, 2014 – Metito, the leader and provider of choice for total intelligent water management solutions in the emerging markets, announced a partnership with Emaar Properties, the Dubai-based global property developer and provider of premier lifestyles, to recycle 20,000m3/day of wastewater to be used for district cooling in Downtown Dubai, its flagship mega-development. This is in line with Emaar’s continuous efforts to preserve the environment through reducing the eco-footprint of its developments.

District cooling systems for Downtown Dubai will use wastewater as makeup water for cooling towers to feed DCP1, DCP2 and DCP3 at Mohammed bin Rashid Boulevard, which will benefit the local environment by using an available resource rather than disposing of it. With sustainability high on the global agenda, this initiative will help Dubai move closer to its promising future as a model city for sustainable living.

As part of the $10 million project, Metito will provide a treated sewage effluent polishing plant along with 5 years operation and maintenance.

Ahmad Al Matrooshi, Managing Director of Emaar Properties, added: “Emaar is committed to protect the local environment and the UAE’s valuable resources and this project is testament to our commitment. We strive to find solutions that can stand the test of time, and using recycled wastewater to meet the water needs for district cooling is a strategic long-term initiative to promote sustainable development. We are delighted to be working with Metito, a long standing provider of ours, and look forward to the successful launch of this project in the months to come.”

Commenting on this, Hassan Al Dardery from Allied Consultants Ltd, the consultants for the project, said; “Emaar has a clear vision with regards on how to sustain the local environment that hosts its world-class developments and it is a great opportunity for us to be able to work with them on this project in Downtown Dubai, which is home to Burj Khalifa and The Dubai Mall. We are very happy to have Metito onboard this project, as we see them add great value in terms of experience, their commitment to provide airtight solutions and their on the ground customer support.”

The project will see water sewage effluent treated by the polishing Reverse Osmosis (RO) technology before being recycled into the makeup water of the district cooling systems. The scheme results in a reduction of the carbon foot print in excess of 36.85 tons of CO2 per day as opposed to using desalinated sea water for the application.

This project is scheduled to be completed in Q4 2014.

Water management solutions provider Metito has received a $30m syndicated loan from Bank of China and International Finance Corporation (IFC) to help expand its essential services in the Middle East, North Africa and Asia regions.

Metito is the first company to obtain long-term financing from Bank of China as part of the IFC B Loan program, a syndicated loan structure that introduces new banking relationships to the borrower.

The investment is part of IFC’s wider efforts to help companies expand into emerging markets, to transfer knowledge and expertise and improve access to essential infrastructure.

The loan will help Metito as it develops water treatment projects across the MENA region and parts of Asia, which will increase the availability of drinking water, improve wastewater treatment infrastructure, reduce waste costs, and decrease health risks to local communities.

“With support from IFC and Bank of China, we’ll be able to embark on new projects, providing quality water treatment solutions in water scarce areas,” said Rami Ghandour, managing director, Metito.

“Access to water is a fundamental challenge to economic development and growth,” said Chunyan Cai, SEO of Bank of China Middle East (Dubai) Limited, covering the MENA area. “With this long-term investment, which is hard to obtain in challenging markets, Bank of China will help support Metito as a leading provider of essential water and wastewater management solutions in water stressed regions.”

“This partnership demonstrates the potential for infrastructure investment in MENA, one of the most water scarce regions in the world,” said Mouayed Makhlouf, IFC regional director for the Middle East and North Africa. “Water scarcity is a global concern and IFC will continue to help boost water efficiency to meet the growing demand.”

Earlier, in June 2013, IFC had provided $50mn in loans to Metito and arranged another $20mn from the German development finance institution, DEG, to strengthen the company’s capital structure and support its expansion.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector. Working with private enterprises in more than 100 countries, IFC uses its capital, expertise, and influence to help eliminate extreme poverty and promote shared prosperity.

Established in 1912, Bank of China provides a full range of financial services in China’s mainland, Hong Kong, Macau and another 31 countries.

Metito is headquartered in Dubai and is active throughout the MENA region, Indonesia, and China. The company also owns and operates six wastewater treatment plants in China, with four more projects under construction.

Metito, a leading provider of intelligent water management and solutions, recently hosted a delegation of eight UK companies from across the water and waste water sector as part of their trade mission to the UAE.

The mission was organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the arm of the UK Government that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality investment to the UK.

Ian Gibbons, Deputy Consul General, British Embassy Dubai, said: “This seminar and subsequent visit to Metito will enable lasting relationships and business to be achieved between our two countries and I look forward to seeing the results in the coming months and years.”

A delegation of twenty-five MIT Sloan MBA students visited Metito’s following a five week seminar course on the business of water, to bridge the gap between theory and business practice within the water industry both in Turkey and the UAE.

The visit was hosted by Rami Ghandour, Executive Director Metito Utilities and attended by other members of the management team at Metito.

During the visit the students, joined by Catherine Gamon, Director Student Life Office MIT Sloan, were introduced to the different services provided by water and waste water management companies through their distinct businesses.

Following this was an interactive Q&A session where the opportunities, challenges and prospects of the industry were discussed and potential career paths for professionals seeking roles in the water industry highlighted. The students were also guided in a tour at Metito’s factory to showcase examples of the work done through this unit.

“In the case of the water study tour, we developed hypotheses before travelling. The meetings with entities such as Metito provided us with the opportunity to test these hypotheses and to learn more in general about the water industry. Metito, provided an insight into the private sector within the water industry – something that we were particularly interested in,” said Zainab Memon, 2013 MBA Candidate – MIT Sloan School of Management and one of the students organising the trip.

Commenting on this Rami Ghandour said, “It is wonderful that a prestigious institution such as MIT has a course on water as part of its MBA programme. I was particularly impressed that the course content and site visits were all student organized, and the students who came on the visit were all very switched on. The business of water needs to be focused on and such activities can only be positive for all our futures. I look forward to more universities following this lead.”

Metito has secured a contract worth US$9 million to upgrade the main Freeha Sewage Treatment Plant (STP) in the holy city of Karbala to treat an increased capacity of 60,000 m3 of effluent per day.

Located approximately 100km South-West of Baghdad, the facility upgrade is slated for completion in the final quarter in 2012.

Metito, which has been working in Iraq for 30 years and said the country is expected to invest US$5.3 billion into infrastructure over the next two years, will deliver the project in partnership with Iraqi group Balad Al Khebra.

Mustafa Hasan, general manager of Metito Jordan and Iraq, said: “Iraq is striving to improve infrastructure across the whole country which will create interesting opportunities for the water sector.”

Mohammed Al Ezzi, general manager of Balad Al Khebra, added: “The plant was built in the seventies in the suburbs while it is now considered to be the epicenter of Karbala. The city is witnessing a population growth and an increasing number of visitors which urges the need of such investment into the water infrastructure. Our work will ensure an improved quality of the treated effluent while eliminating odour problems in the surrounding area among other implications.”

Metito, a leading provider of intelligent water management and solutions, recently hosted a delegation of eight UK companies from across the water and waste water sector as part of their trade mission to the UAE.

The mission was organised by UK Trade & Investment (UKTI), the arm of the UK Government that helps UK-based companies succeed in the global economy and assists overseas companies to bring their high-quality investment to the UK.

Ian Gibbons, Deputy Consul General, British Embassy Dubai, said: “This seminar and subsequent visit to Metito will enable lasting relationships and business to be achieved between our two countries and I look forward to seeing the results in the coming months and years.”