Infrastructure
Engineers Call for AI and BIM Adoption to Address Skills Gap
Capital Ethiopia · 2 hours ago · Read the Full Story on Capital Ethiopia
AI SUMMARY
Engineering leaders at the 27th EACE convention called for the rapid adoption of BIM, AI, and geospatial technologies to overcome skills shortages and infrastructure challenges across Africa.
- The 27th Ethiopian Association of Civil Engineers (EACE) Convention and International Infrastructure Conference opened at the Sheraton Addis Hotel under the theme “Building Africa 2050: Engineering Resilient, Sustainable, and Smart Infrastructure.”
- Participants warned that Africa faces an annual infrastructure-financing gap between US$68 billion and US$100 billion alongside project-delivery bottlenecks and a shortage of certified project-management professionals.
- Speakers emphasized that financing alone cannot resolve the sector's structural weaknesses, which include limited technical capacity, fragmented supply chains, weak project controls, and slow digital adoption.
- Ethiopian contracting and consulting firms face domestic challenges such as raw material shortages, administrative skill gaps, inconsistent project management standards, and limited digital tool usage.
- EACE President Amanuel Mekonnen Hailemariam noted that Ethiopia's infrastructure sector is expanding rapidly alongside major projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam, a planned regional mega-airport hub, and the National Corridor Development Programme.
- The Council of Ministers recently endorsed a construction-industry policy framework aimed at improving safety, regulatory compliance, and the adoption of BIM and digital management tools.
- Engineer Zahra Abdulhadi of MIDROC Investment Group stated that integrated project delivery requires transparent controls governed over time, cost, and quality parameters.
- Building Information Modelling (BIM) is a digital process enabling engineers, architects, contractors, and clients to manage detailed project information throughout its lifecycle.
- Professor Alemayehu Teferra received the EACE Lifetime Achievement Award during the conference, which also welcomed international delegations from eight countries.
- The multi-day conference features technical panels covering structural and seismic engineering, transport and logistics, digital infrastructure, smart urban planning, sustainable construction, and project-management systems.
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