Innovation within construction industry hastens development on African continent.

Africa is the second-largest and second most populous continent and it is highly like that Africa’s population will reach 1.9 billion by 2050 as predicted by the World Population Review organisation.

Continuous growth on the continent has brought with it a growing need for infrastructure development to meet the requirements of the growing African population. Toby Shapshak, who will be a Keynote speaker at the African Construction and Totally Concrete Expo 2015, in his TED Global address in 2013 said, “Innovation in Africa is the purest form of innovation [as it is] out of necessity”.

With countries in Africa facing the realities of harsh economic circumstances, infrastructural development and construction remains a necessity which is considered economically taxing. It is therefore imperative for African construction industries to apply innovative plans and techniques to develop their industries.

Throughout Africa, many conventional building materials are regarded as expensive and as a result, inaccessible. Agremént South Africa is the only recognised body in South Africa which evaluates non-standardised building and construction products and systems. By providing assurances for non-standardised products, Agrément South Africa provides alternatives to more expensive traditional building materials, encouraging construction through the application of innovative methods and the uses of alternative, Agremént South Africa certified products.

Joe Odhiambo, the Chief Executive Officer of Agrément South Africa says, “New cutting edge ideas and innovation in the construction industry happens constantly and the pace of the change is bound to escalate with time. With technology growing in leaps and bounds so does the potential for innovation within the construction industry. ”

Joe is also a member of the African Construction and Totally Concrete Expo 2015 advisory board.  The event is set to take place at the Sandton Convention Centre, from Tuesday, 12 May to Thursday, 14 May 2015. The advisory board consists of senior executives from a cross-section of organisations active in the African cement, concrete and construction industries. The board advises the African Construction and Totally Concrete Expo 2015 organising team on the latest industry trends, challenges and discussion issues, thus creating an event developed by the industry for the industry. Sponsored by PPC Cement, Marley, Standard Bank and Builder’s Warehouse, the conference is Africa’s biggest gathering of qualified buyers and sellers for the entire cement, concrete and construction industry value chain. It is set to create a platform for construction stakeholders from across the globe to engage in open dialogue, as well as exchange knowledge, discuss best practice and innovative case studies from the respective countries present.

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About Agrement SA:

Agrément South Africa is a world class Technical Assessment Agency. Agrément South Africa endorses government`s intentions of economic development, noble governance and raising existing standards and prosperity in South Africa. This will be attained by encouraging and assisting the use of pioneering and non-standard construction products through its certification scheme, thereby capitalising on the reimbursements to be gained.

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