UK’s RICS summit to focus on Africa’s future success

The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) summit, which will be held in South Africa for the first time, will aim to engage role-players from across Africa’s built environment to discuss vital aspects of the continent’s economic growth and future success.

The institution announced that it would hold its Global Summit 2015 in Johannesburg on March 25, marking the fourth time the summit would be held outside the UK – after China, India and Brazil.

RICS South Africa country manager TC Chetty pointed out that Africa’s built environment was undergoing unprecedented change, with rapid urbanisation and populations in key cities projected to grow some 60% above 2010 levels.

“Developments such as these [not only] bring increased opportunities for the commercial and residential property sectors, but also for professionals working throughout Africa, “ he said.

Ethiopia, Ghana, Mozambique, Nigeria, Tanzania and Zambia were expected to achieve growth rates of between 5% and 7%.

Financial firm EY’s ‘Africa by numbers 2013 to 2014’ report found that the size of Africa’s economy more than trebled since 2002 and the sub-Saharan African economy grew over three-and-half-times, despite half of the past decade having been marked by a deeply troubled global economy.

Three key markets
“While RICS has had a presence in South Africa for some years, we are now in the process of expanding our operations, initially focusing on three key regional markets – South Africa, Kenya and Ghana,” Chetty said.

http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/uks-rics-summit-to-focus-on-africas-future-success-2015-02-04