East Africa has in recent years seen exceptional growth in the construction sector, particularly around the development of new houses, multistory buildings, roads and bridges. This trend has contributed to a surging demand for building materials in particular cement and concrete.
Increased government funding on infrastructure development in almost every financial year has acted as an incentive for continued inflows of investments in the construction industry in east Africa.
The entire east Africa region has a severe cement deficit, since the opportunity not being fully seized by investors and local manufacturers a number of foreign players are entering the market to claim their stake in this burgeoning industry.
Fuelled by a flourishing middle class with higher disposable incomes, demand for more efficient service delivery and infrastructure development is climbing, with demand for cement not far behind.
Against this background, The Concrete Trends and Concrete.TV will be hosting the inaugural Totally Concrete East Africa conference in Dar es Salaam from 28 – 30 October 2014.
Totally Concrete East Africa will showcase how new and existing players can capitalise on the demand for increased cement production in the region, while giving users practical insight on how to increase sustainability in construction projects with techniques for service life extension, quality control enforcement in both domestic and imported cement, and reducing maintenance and repair costs over time.
This high-level forum will feature over 40+ presentations and debates including African and international players from the entire cement, concrete and is designed for the entire construction value chain including architects, cement and concrete producers, contractors, engineers, government and suppliers to the industry.
Says Wolfram Schmidt, a special VIP guest speaker at the event and world renowned concrete technologist from BAM Federal Institute for Materials Testing and Research in Germany, “The entire region is developing at vast velocity, and the construction market is a relevant – if not the most relevant – market to accompany and foster the positive developments in the region. Therefore, cement and concrete are the most important materials, but the African framework also exhibits a number of peculiarities, which are very interesting from a researcher’s point of view. Since to date cement and concrete are less established in Africa than in many other parts in the world, people in Africa are more open-minded and less limited in their way of thinking about concrete.”
“The future for construction with concrete in Africa is very promising, and you can feel an outstanding spirit of innovation and enthusiasm for innovation and non-standard ideas, which I think is quite unique in the world. I am sure that Africa is a seed for future concrete innovations, and therefore, I am happy that Totally Concrete East Africa gives me the opportunity to share ideas with my colleagues from Africa and all over the world,” according to Mr Schmidt.
Totally Concrete East Africa 2014 is convenient and cost-effective and will enable you to meet the entire industry value chain and conclude several months of customer interaction in just a few days. Limited places are available as are a number of registration packages for those wishing to register. Visit www.totally-concrete.com/east or contact the organisers: tamsin.collins@hypenica.com
