THE IMPERATIVE OF SUSTAINABLE PROCUREMENT IN THE INFRASTRUCTURE DEVELOPMENT IN AFRICA

The construction industry is responsible with the provision of basic and complex infrastructure for the sustainability of human lives and the enhancement of economic activities. Africa is a peculiar continent with a fast-growing population and limited built assets to cater for the people. The challenge of infrastructure and housing decadence is still imminent and millions of housing deficits exist within the continent. In the infrastructure sector, there is an imminent shortage of roads, data infrastructures, water, and power facilities. This problem was further proclaimed through the G20 Guidelines on Quality infrastructure for regional connectivity (G20, 2020). Due to the importance of infrastructure to global development, G20 leaders formulated G20 principles for quality infrastructure investment (QII). It was rightly captured, that ‘infrastructure is a driver of economic prosperity and provides a solid basis for strong, sustainable, balanced and inclusive growth and sustainable development, which are the key goals of the G20 and critical for promoting global, national and local development priorities’.

However, the provision of these infrastructures comes with its danger to our environment, and investors and global development institutions currently integrate sustainability into the procurement and financing structure for capital projects. Sustainable procurement as a broad concept first emerged and is traceable to the Rio Earth Summit in 1992. During the 1990s, environmental procurement policies started appearing at the European and international levels and some grew into sustainable procurement policies. The concept of sustainable procurement is set to highlight the integration of sustainability objectives in the procurement activities of organizations.

There is an urgent need for practitioners and scholars to examine the subject of infrastructure development, the environment, sustainable procurement, and construction investment issues within the continent, in doing such, there would be a need to highlight policies-related matters within the sector. At Samprec Consultants Ltd, we periodically evaluate applied theories of policy analysis to address the policy implementation problem for the public procurement, education, professional training, and other relevant policy subjects in the industry.

You can speak to us on this subject via info@samprecconsultants.com and let’s work on supporting your infrastructure and housing program in Africa.