Atkins establishes foothold in Africa

Atkins (London, UK) has announced the acquisition of Howard Humphreys East Africa Limited Group, a multidisciplinary consultancy based in Kenya and Tanzania which employs around 200 people. This marks a significant step for Atkins by providing geographic expansion into the African market as a locally based company, Atkins stated. Howard Humphreys has been operating in the region since 1931 and supports clients across the infrastructure market in East Africa, providing engineering consultancy and project management services in the transportation, water and property markets. Kenya is now the largest economy in eastern Africa and the ninth largest in Africa, according to Atkins, which cited studies showing Kenya contributed the bulk of the $60-billion worth of large capital infrastructure projects recently implemented in East Africa.