A&A Associates: The Innovation of Construction Project Management in our changing times

A & A Associates is an International Construction Management Consultancy with experts from all sectors of the construction industry (Cost Engineers, Quantity Surveyors/Estimators, Land Surveyors, Planners, and Electrical Engineers) geared towards delivering construction projects efficiently within reasonable time and cost. Our goal is to make a contribution to the construction project management environment by providing expert advice and support to developing countries in the area of project development, finance and realization. Developing countries like Cameroon are the emerging markets and economies today. To meet up with the global business challenges there must be a defined economic structure to attract investors. Research purports that the construction industry is the regulator of the economy. This has been evidenced in times of crisis where a drop in construction production has resulted in the bankruptcy and insolvency of small companies and suppliers who rely mainly on the construction market.

In Cameroon and the other Sub Saharan African countries, the construction industry has not been defined hence the difficulty in establishing it. Most central governments in Africa have no structure in the procurement system. Most major projects are awarded to foreign firms and by some strange happenstance, the African governments are extremely lacking   effective quality assurance and control measures to ensure that the projects delivered are of high standards.  One item of ‘variation of addition’ could lead to overshooting the budget, resulting in abandonment of the contract. In the urban cities you will find many uncompleted, abandoned buildings which have become safe haven for criminals and the destitute... This is not to say that these African countries are lacking in qualified construction professionals! The National Polytechnic in Yaoundé, Cameroon for instance trains engineers. In addition, African governments trained qualified engineers through its scholarship programs in renowned academic establishments around the world. Consequently, Cameroon like many other African countries has the manpower and capacity. However, there is a general absence of structure and government policy required for the creation and effective running of a national construction board and to regulate the construction industry for an effective delivery of projects drawing from evidence based research.  This has resulted in everyone becoming a construction contractor as long as one registers with the Chamber of Commerce and the Social Insurance Fund in the case with Cameroon.

But whether we have a structure or not, there will always be a high need for housing provision either by the state or the private sector. Without controlled costs and the effective management of resources, the working populace as well as the massive unemployed will not afford any costly property.  According to a report from the Center for Affordable Housing Finance for Africa (CAHF), “the Building costs in Cameroon are fairly high.  In this low middle income country with a conservative banking system and slow government reforms, it has been difficult to build houses at a cost accessible to most of the population.  This has resulted in a discrepancy between production costs and purchasing power of the potential buyers.  Very few banks provide end-user housing finance which is affordable to the middle and lower income groups. Access to credit for housing is therefore very limited. Government is trying to reduce housing production costs in an effort to make housing more affordable.  It has established agencies to encourage the use of local materials and also to reduce the price of land and inputs such as cement and sand, and has stepped up funding for government agencies in this sector.  The government has decided to roll out projects to construct affordable housing in all 10 regions of the country”

The above is not an overstatement. There are investors now in Cameroon working with local construction companies setting up plants to manufacture building materials which can be used to achieve affordable housing. But the technology and methods (US insulated panel system) they are using gives an end product priced from $48,000 to $85,275 (excluding sales tax). These come to between 24 and 43million FCFA- it’s just not affordable. The one million dollar question is:  Which bank will accept to sign mortgages for individuals without proper job security? Will the investors stay in business? The local construction companies partnering with these investors, do they have qualified cost engineers, quantity surveyors and other professionals to advise them? A & A Associates have the expertise to resolve all these “puzzles”. We are ready to share our expertise with governments to advise them on the best policies for land administration, exploitation and processing of local resources, housing generation and area planning, finance and construction methods. We don’t only manage project costs and human resources, but also all other factors or aspects that would affect or influence the decision to embark as well as the execution and long term management of the built facilities. If you would like to make use of our services, do not hesitate to contact us through the information below:This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.