Economic growth in Sub-Saharan Africa is out-pacing the rest of the world with the region’s economy expected to grow by 6.1% in 2014.  The economies of Cote d’Ivoire and Mozambique are at the helm of this growth, set to expand at a rate of 8% or more next year.Cote d’Ivoire, as Africa’s largest producer of cocoa, and Mozambique, the site of the world’s biggest gas discovery in the last decade, willset the pace for the entire continent.  Rapid infrastructure development is required now more than ever to sustain these predicted growth rates withgrowth estimates climbing higher as 2014 approaches.

The TotallyConcrete Expo is the cement, concrete and construction industry’s answer to keep pace with future demand as industrial, commercial, and residential infrastructure projects crop up at an increased rate across the continent. Nicky Weimar, Senior Economist from Nedbank Group South Africa will deliver the Keynote Address at the event, providing a crystal clear picture of where the industry is headed and what measures are necessary to sustain this accelerated growth and drive direct foreign investment for efficient infrastructure delivery.

In Tanzania, for example, cement demand grew by 10 percent last year to 2.7 million tons, while growth in the building industry accelerated to 6.5 percent in the third quarter of 2012.  Local cement manufacturers and construction industry stakeholders must prepare for the intensified competition that will follow this predicted growth in the market.

Industry experts will share their best practices for navigating Africa’s pending growth and change at TotallyConcrete.  Eng. Joseph Makoju, President of the Cement Manufacturers Association in Nigeria, will outline the importance of defining African industry standards for concrete specifications, applications and cement quality control.  HE ErkkiNghimtina, Minister, Ministry of Works and Transport, Namibia, and Hans-Wilhelm Schutte, Managing Director, Ohorongo Cement, Namibia will address the issue of infant industry protection and the need for import tariffs to protect the national economy.

Soren Du Preez, Programme Director for the TotallyConcrete Expo, aims to provide participants with an unprecedented Pan-African networking opportunity and predicts, “Sub-Saharan Africa’s most influential project owners will congregate at the TotallyConcrete Expo to build relationships and identify new and future commercial partners in preparation for exponential industry growth.”

Industrial and commercial developments are also on the upswing with Members of Parliament in Ghana calling for the rehabilitation of roads to boost the regional economy and demand forretail space in shopping centres now experiencing a growth rate of 7.8% a year across the Southern continent.  Developers, now more than ever, require solutions for innovative, sustainable construction, and will be at the TotallyConcrete Expo to learn from construction experts such as Eng. Hans Rossocha, Engineering Director at Group Five Engineering and Construction (Pty) Ltd, South Africa and Dr. Eugene Atiemo, Director of the Building and Roads Research Institute at CSIR in Ghana.

John Sheath, CEO of the Concrete Society of Southern Africa, one of the endorsing associations of the event, states, “The TotallyConcrete Expo 2013, as part of ConcreteWeek, will provide a distinctively African platform in which the concrete and construction industries can converge for skills development, access to cutting edge building and construction technologies and cross-border information sharing.”  The TotallyConcrete Expo is set to provide a quintessential platform from which to launch the African built environment of tomorrow.