The Power of Construction Technology (CONTECH) in Africa’s Booming Construction Industry
Africa’s construction sector is under a significant paradigm shift in growth. According to GlobalData, Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) can yield a compound annual growth rate of 6.6% (CAGR) in the next 5 years (2018 to 2022). This estimate places SSA as the fastest-growing construction hub globally, making Africa a key player in infrastructure within the next 5 years.
Africa’s growth in the industry is attributed to the rate of urbanization, the rise of middle-class housing, and increasing economic growth, which has led to rising demand in the continent’s construction industry. Countries leading Africa’s construction sector, based on the forecasted annual growth rate, include Ethiopia (12.7%), Tanzania (9.3%), and Zambia (7.7%). Africa’s giant by population, Nigeria, is estimated to grow by 4.6%, although she accounts for 60% of West Africa's construction activities.
With these developments come the concerns of the industry’s stakeholders on the cost of projects, their execution, and management. Therefore, construction firms must consider ConTech. ConTech, or ‘construction technology’, is the construction industry's future. According to Construction News, the widespread adoption of ConTech tools in Africa’s construction industry is estimated to increase productivity by 40%.
Trending 2019 ConTech tools include:
1. Building Information Modeling (BIM)
According to research, 80% of construction stakeholders believe BIM can improve design insights. BIM benefits every phase of a project down to its execution. This includes:
• The creation and management of project information, resulting in a detailed business model that contains digital descriptions of all aspects of the project.
• Better versioning, communication, sharing, and team collaboration (Autodesk BIM 360).
• Effective construction cost estimation (5D BIM tools — Autodesk Revit & BIM 360 Docs).
• 3D visualization of the pre-construction project.
• Clash detection and improved site coordination (Autodesk BIM 360 Glue).
• Reduced cost with a positive return on investments.
• Improved safety on construction sites.
• Integration of prefabrication and modularization construction technologies.
• Facility management and building handover.
2. Modularization, Prefabrication & Eco-friendliness
Modularization is believed to make the execution of construction projects 50x faster and safer. It is an offsite construction tool that uses standard processes to assemble buildings offsite before progressing into onsite construction. Though similar to prefabrication, both tools will cause cut down on building cost and time. Another benefit of these tools is the eco-friendly working environment it provides for workers. Other benefits are:
• Reduction of landfill waste through the use of recyclable construction materials.
• Reduced health risks associated with traditional construction environments, since the work is done in a factory-controlled environment.
3. Augmented Reality
Much confused with ‘Virtual Reality (VR)’, Augmented Reality immerses its users into reality, enabling visualization through a camera lens and other tech devices. Although it comes at a cost, there are several benefits, such as:
• Improved implementation of BIM
• Real-time visualization of projects
• Increased safety, collaboration, and communication
• Ease of ideation processes and information collation.
4. Wearable technology
The list goes beyond 3D wears, Fitbits, and an armband that enables construction workers to commute effectively, navigate sites without physical instruction manuals, and eases the location of site workers especially in cases of accidents. These technologies are worth investing in for safer work plan for workers on site.
5. Bacterial Concrete
This process involves the self-healing or filling up of cracks in concretes, caused by bacterial reactions occurring within concrete after hardening. Concrete is the most widely utilized construction material, is believed to reach a rate of 5 billion metric tons in construction use per year, by 2030. The use of Bacterial concrete will enable the construction of sustainable structures. Among the benefits of self-healing are the following:
- Compared to normal concrete, it offers a vivid increase in the flexural and compressive strength.
- Improves the durability of steel-reinforced in concrete and
- Reduces steel corrosion caused by concrete cracks.
Other tech trends revolutionizing the construction industry include:
- Cloud-based technologies
- Advanced Global Positioning System
- Robotics
- Drones
- Database & Construction Software.
The future of ConTech holds a lot for the construction industry, but only data-driven construction firms looking for higher production rates and improved project executions using ConTech tools will survive the competition and market demand in the industry.
