Leading East African architecture and engineering firm FBW Group is calling on the construction and property sectors to invest more in African manufacturing, cutting the reliance on imported materials for building components.
It said that the creation of a circular economy in construction is vital if Africa’s vision of green, sustainable urban growth is to become reality. More recycling of material resources and the use of natural local materials in building projects is needed to achieve that aim.
Despite recycling having a long tradition in Africa, FBW also wants to see a concerted drive towards circular principles in the building industry. FBW made its call for action in support of World Green Building Week. It believes a strategy should be two-fold, promoting firstly an up scaled production of ‘hand-made’ products such as clay, stone and compressed earth.
Secondly, more international investment in the local manufacturing of specialised products serving large complex projects will stimulate innovation, activate supply chains and create jobs. It is an approach that will also help deliver Africa’s green cities of the future, with the quality infrastructure and affordable homebuilding needed to meet the challenges of fast-growing urban centres and populations.
FBW has operations in Uganda, Kenya, Rwanda and Tanzania, as well as a base in Manchester in the UK. A major player in the region’s construction and development sector, it is celebrating operating in East Africa for 25 years. Antje Eckoldt is an FBW Group director and its Kenya country manager. She points towards the predicted growth of the Nairobi metropolitan area, already home to 10 million people, over the next three decades.
Antje says: “When you look at the pressure of land prices in the city it is little wonder that we’re seeing the construction of more and more tall buildings.
“The technologies required to construct these means that most of the materials and components needed, such as aluminium windows, are currently imported from Asia and Europe. There is hardly any local manufacturing. To create the circular economy that we need to achieve net zero we have to push the international players to look at innovative ways to manufacture in Africa.
“We also need to focus on a more local aspect to production, with more reliable, locally-sourced products created out of natural and traditional African materials. Apart from clay and stone products these could be bioplastics or natural fibre boards.
“Then there is the need to drive the industry towards recycling products on a larger scale, even including something as basic as using reclaimed products in concrete. Due to scale of projects in urban areas, the structural frame is usually concrete. For instance, we currently have limited steel recycling facilities in East Africa. This would also allow for by-products that can be used in production of lower carbon cement.
