Reshaping East Africa Construction Sector With Digital Transformation

East Africa is witnessing a construction boom supported by Government aides and increased foreign investments. With digital construction tools and systems such as BIM being adopted at a robust speed in the global construction market, developers in the East African region are now wanting to explore into technological means to accelerate operational pace and thus enhance industry development.

East Africa Digital Construction 2018, is all set to gather eminent industry names to brainstorm on the relevant topics such as digital transformation, BIM & ICT system, cloud and ERP solutions, smart automation, government initiatives and much more.

According to the event chairman and key speaker – Vaughan Harris, Executive Director – BIM Institute, South Africa, “The biggest hindrance in Africa and globally in the construction industry is to many traditionalists and senior executives working in silos. By banishing silos, the industry can gain access to a centralized data pool. One source of the truth but to do this, it’s vital to connect traditional on-premise systems to modern applications. We need to combine traditional with technology, to make the connection between diverse cultures and applications. The use of business intelligence (BI) software is a good start in helping all take advantage of the data that becomes accessible from these now joined-up systems.”

Growing demand for green and sustainable construction, limited source of skilled labour, inadequate integration of policy and capital commitment by government are major issues the region is facing. To address these issues a paradigm shift is required on the design build processes by using advanced systems and tools to enhance designs, bring down costs & avoid project delays

“Technology has indeed supported the growth of the construction. This support is seen in increased delivery of projects and better quality works, for example – supply of high quality ready mix concrete. For better operations, there is need to have closer working relationship between training schools and industry. There is also need for greater local/international joint ventures” – Mairura Omwenga, Chairman – Town and County Planners Association of Kenya (TCPAK). Omwenga will present on Smart Town Planning and Development at the conference.

Advantages of Technology in Construction, will be elaborated by Leon van Rensburg, Business Development Lead, Prokon Build, South Africa. Prokon Build has joined the event as Silver Sponsor, along with First Distribution. Oracle Construction and Engineering, has also joined the event sponsor list as Digital Transformation Leader.

The challenges of BIM in Construction projects in Kenya, with emphasis on uptake and application of BIM, will be addressed by George Arabbu, Architects Chapter Registrar at

Architectural Association of Kenya (Part-time Lecturer – Nairobi Institute of Technology, Kenya). Arabbu feels that “The industry will embrace more digital platforms in design process and a bit in the construction and management stages.”

Taking place on the 14th-15th of November 2018, in Nairobi this event will witness industry peers from Deloitte, Kenya Green Building Society, Konza Technopolis, SMEC, Aurecon, Atkins, , Angularuso, ACMK, AAK, KPDA, Construction Management Foundation and many more.