Ijaara Dam on South East of Gabiley - Somaliland
Pharo Ventures is the commercial, for-profit arm of The Pharo Foundation and has been set up to harness the power of a vibrant private sector by investing in enterprises across a variety of spheres within East Africa.
The objective is to build and grow commercially and environmentally sustainable businesses. The focus is maximizing the creation of economic value and jobs for local communities. Headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya, Pharo Ventures has country offices in Ethiopia (Addis Ababa) and Somaliland (Hargeisa).
Having just passed two years since the inception of Pharo Ventures in Somaliland we are immensely proud to look back and consider what we have achieved in such a short time. Our two main businesses in the region are Pharo Construction ltd (PCL) and Ready-Mix Concrete (RMC), both of which are thriving and changing the landscape of construction in Somaliland.
Since its inception, PCL has hired 55 permanent employees and created over 1,500 indirect jobs. This has been hugely beneficial to the area in both boosting employment and leaving behind critical infrastructure. Work has included four school projects, eight residential housing projects and the building of 29 commercial stores in Egal Airport – which were completed between December 2022 and February 2023.
One of the biggest ongoing projects is that of Ijaara dam. The project is a fully integrated dam with geo membrane installation, an elevated reinforced concrete tank, animal water troughs, kiosks for drinking water, a concrete inlet and concrete spillway, a security room, a pump room, solar panels, a fence and sanitation facilities.
In the building of this, PCL has demonstrated its innovation by pioneering the methodology of ‘battered excavation’. Where space allows, battering the excavation sides to a safe angle of repose makes the excavation safer because the likelihood of a trench collapse is reduced. While competitors tended to dig dams down to 6 meters of depth, Pharo Ventures Somaliland only does so to a two-meter depth in Ijaara dam, which improves health and safety. The dam is now around 80% complete and is expected to be finished by the end of May 2023. Once complete the dam will have a storage capacity of 57,863 cubic meters and will provide access to clean water for 465 households. It is projects like this that are cementing PCL as a trusted and valuable business in the region.
RMC is also standing out from its competitors in recent months. Indeed, RMC has produced more than 2,100 cubic meters of ready mixed concrete over the past six months, standing out because of the high quality of its concrete despite its product remaining cheaper than the existing competition. Beyond providing much needed competition to an area keen to build and expand, RMC is also addressing community needs. Its flagship project, which is the refurbishment of the Waaheen market that experienced a major fire in 2022, will mean RMC can play a key role in reconstructing the economy and livelihoods which the market sustains.
It has been an amazing two years and we are looking forward to what the future will bring with more projects already on the horizon. Watch this space for updates!