Recently, Zoomlion’s cranes have been delivering a string of successes across the African continent. In South Africa, the industry-first dedicated-chassis knuckle-boom truck crane has been supporting a local solar power and energy storage project; in East Africa, a crawler crane successfully completed the first critical steel-structure lift for the roof of the Ethiopian National Stadium, fully demonstrating Zoomlion’s proven strength in major overseas projects.
In the Meyerton area of Gauteng Province, South Africa, a renewable energy facility that integrates solar power generation with battery storage is being rapidly built. Zoomlion, together with local partners, is providing safe and efficient heavy lifting support for the project with its customised ZTK45000 knuckle-boom truck crane.
As Zoomlion’s industry-first dedicated-chassis knuckle-boom truck crane, the ZTK45000 features a 6-section telescopic boom with four double-push sections and a proprietary frame-type turntable (with independent intellectual property rights), offering light weight and superior rigidity. It is built on a dedicated chassis with proprietary patented technology, and incorporates all-wheel steering and crab-walking functionality, achieving a turning radius of only 8.5 metres. This enables more flexible operation in confined spaces, fully suiting the working conditions of photovoltaic power stations in Africa.
On the East African plateau, good news came from Addis Ababa, the capital of Ethiopia. As the hook of the Zoomlion crawler crane smoothly descended, the MD25 large assembly unit of the steel structure for Zone A of the Ethiopian National Stadium project was precisely positioned in a single lift. This landmark project has officially entered a new phase of main steel-structure installation.
The project is located in a high‑altitude plateau region, where strong and variable winds and complex construction conditions impose extreme demands on the stability, precision, and environmental adaptability of lifting equipment. The MD25 module lifted by the Zoomlion crawler crane in this operation measures 42 metres in length, 22 metres in width, and weighs 77.74 tonnes. It is the core control unit among the 46 large trusses on the outer ring of the stadium, directly influencing the overall progress and quality of the roof construction. With its powerful lifting capacity, exceptional micro-motion control, and excellent adaptability to plateau working conditions, Zoomlion equipment successfully overcame the challenging plateau lifting tasks and set a new local lifting record for large-span steel-structure construction in Ethiopia.
Since entering the African market in 2007, Zoomlion has established ten wholly-owned subsidiaries in Africa, set up primary and secondary service outlets in multiple key countries, and now covers over 80% of the African continent. Zoomlion will continue to deepen its presence in Africa, supporting the continent’s green energy transition and infrastructure development with superior products and localised services.
