아프리카 최대 모스크 완공 VIDEO: China's CSCEC completes Africa's largest mosque in Algeria

VIDEO: China's CSCEC completes Africa's largest mosque in Algeria

Djama El Djazair was built by 2,300 CSCEC workers and commissioned by Algeria's outgoing Pres Abdelaziz Bouteflika

by Neha Bhatia29 Apr 2019

Algeria – which is currently in the midst of political upheaval after its 82-year-old longest-serving president Abdelaziz Bouteflika stepped down earlier this month – will soon be the home of Africa’s largest mosque, Djama El Djazair – comprising the world’s tallest minaret at 265m – built by the state-backed China State Construction Engineering Corporation (CSCEC) at a cost of $2bn.

CSCEC has built Africa's largest mosque in Algeria.CSCEC Algeria

아프리카 최대 모스크 완공 중국 CSCEC 건설    82세의 최장수 대통령 압델 라지즈 부테 플리카가 집권하고 있는 알제리에 아프리카에서 가장 큰 모슬렘 사원이 중국의 CSCEC에 의해서 준공됐다. 총 투입비만 20억 불에 달하는 이 거대한 사원의 이름은 디자마 엘자제르(Djama El Djazair)다. 이 모스크는 높이 265m의 세계최고 높이의 첨탑을 자랑한다. 자금 부족에도 밀어부친 이 사업으로 인해 알제리 경제까지 영향을 미쳤지만 이 계획은 이제 완성되었다. 황기철 콘페이퍼 에디터 큐레이터 Ki Cheol Hwang, conpaper editor, curator

edited by kcontents

Former President Bouteflika is said to have commissioned the project decades ago, and the scheme has now been completed despite facing issues related to cash flow and financial shortages that have reportedly plagued the Algerian economy.

CSCEC is the parent company of regional contracting giant China State Construction Engineering Corporation Middle East, which is led by Yu Tao, who was ranked third on the 2018 Construction Week Power 100 ranking. 

Spanning 40ha, Djama El Djazair is the largest religious building built overseas by a Chinese company, and is the world’s third-largest mosque, following the 60ha Imam Reza Shrine in Mashhad and the 41.6ha Sultan Qaboos Grand Mosque in Muscat on the list.

CSCEC deployed 2,300 workers for the mosque [© Xinhua].

Africa’s largest mosque until Djama El Djazair’s construction was Casablanca, Morocco’s King Hassan II Mosque, which has a capacity of around 150,000 worshippers.

According to Chinese news outlet CGTN, Djama El Djazair comprises an engraved golden dome, with its world record-breaking minaret “visible from across Algiers”.

The report added that the minaret features an observation deck 37 floors above-ground, and the mosque’s complex includes a park, a public square, a fire station, a library, staff homes, and a religious school.

In a video, Chinese news agency Xinhua states that the mosque is designed to resist strong earthquakes and corrosion, and the CGTN report states that the structure can withstand a magnitude 9.0 quake as well.

CGTN reported that CSCEC won the project’s bid in 2011 and started construction work in August 2012.

Citing an interview with CSCEC’s general manager in Algeria, Zhou Sheng, the news outlet added that the contractor deployed 2,300 engineers, construction managers, and workers from China, Algeria, and other African nations for the project.

The mosque is equipped with solar panels and a system that allows the retention and recycling of rainwater, the report stated.

constructionweekonline

 KCONTENTS