ConstructAfrica Hosts its First Ambassador Town Hall, Marking a Milestone in Advancing Africa’s Construction Leadership

Source: APO

On Friday, 28 November 2025, ConstructAfrica (https://ConstructAfrica.com/) successfully convened its inaugural Ambassador Town Hall Meeting, bringing together a distinguished group of leaders from across Africa’s construction, infrastructure, finance, legal, education, technology, and policy sectors. This historic gathering marks the formal introduction of the ConstructAfrica Ambassadors Programme, an initiative designed by the ConstructAfrica Industry Advisory Board (CIAB) to champion excellence, collaboration, and thought leadership across the continent’s built-environment ecosystem.

The Town Hall set the foundation for a new pan-African community of experts committed to strengthening Africa’s construction sector, one of the continent’s most important engines of economic and social development.

A Milestone for Africa’s Construction Future

The inaugural Town Hall highlighted both the significance of Africa’s construction and infrastructure landscape and the urgent need for coordinated leadership. The sector (one of the fastest-growing globally) contributes up to 11% of GDP in key African markets, attracts trillions of dollars in pipeline investments, and serves as a catalyst for job creation, industrialisation, regional integration, and improved quality of life across the continent.

Against this backdrop, the Ambassadors Programme aims to mobilise 100 influential leaders by 2026 to help shape a more sustainable, investable, and globally competitive construction industry for Africa.

In introducing the ConstructAfrica Ambassadors Programme, Dr Nelson Ogunshakin OBE, Chair of ConstructAfrica Industry Advisory Board (CIAB), said, “We are delighted to have secured the commitment of highly qualified and enthusiastic corporate executives across the African continent to form the first cohort of the Ambassadors. The Ambassadors Programme brings together a carefully selected group of exceptional professionals and visionaries committed to advancing Africa’s infrastructure transformation. The initiative will serve as a global think tank and collaborative network, elevating Africa’s voice in development discourse and strengthening the flow of insights, innovations, and best practices across the sector. On behalf of the CIAB, I would like to welcome onboard our new ambassadors and look forward to collaborating with each member towards the successful delivery of future programme – strengthening the African construction sector.”

Demonstrating ConstructAfrica’s Commitment to Excellence

The launch of the Town Hall and Ambassadors Programme signals ConstructAfrica’s deepening commitment to supporting Africa’s construction ecosystem with reliable market intelligence, strategic dialogue, and platforms for knowledge exchange.

Sharing his reflections on the significance of the programme, Dr. Segun Faniran, Founder and Publisher of ConstructAfrica, said: “The ConstructAfrica Ambassadors Programme brings together distinguished thought leaders from diverse fields across key sectors relevant to the African construction landscape. Through this initiative, we are building a powerful network of visionaries committed to advancing industry standards, fostering collaboration, and shaping the future of infrastructure development in Africa. The programme reflects ConstructAfrica’s commitment to market intelligence, thought leadership, and sustainable growth, laying the foundation for a more connected and resilient continent.”

As a pan-African hub for data, insights, and thought leadership, ConstructAfrica remains dedicated to empowering investors, developers, policymakers, and practitioners to make informed decisions that lead to sustainable, impactful infrastructure delivery.

The Town Hall concluded with expressions of gratitude to the inaugural cohort of Ambassadors – leaders whose expertise and passion reflect ConstructAfrica’s vision of building a stronger, more connected, and more resilient Africa.

LIST OF THE AMBASSADORS

S/N	Name	Role	Area of Expertise	Country
1	Jumoke Ogundare	Chief Executive Officer, Lagos Lagoon Highways Limited	Developer & Investor	Nigeria
2	Hakeem Ogunniran	Chair, Eximia Realty	Housing Development	Nigeria
3	Grace Bema	Managing Director, BCHOD Consulting Engineers	Design Engineering	Zimbabwe
4	Rob Morson	Partner, Pinsent Masons	Legal / Solicitors	South Africa
5	Tunde Fagbemi	Chair, Dukia Gold	Aviation & Mining	Nigeria
6	Eddie Andrews	Deputy Mayor of Cape Town	Government	South Africa
7	Colette Yende	Chief Procurement Officer, Transnet Engineering	Procurement	South Africa
8	Bruce Mutaurwa	Chief Executive Officer, Rapidus Engineering	Civil Engineering	South Africa
9	Nkgatho Tlale	Deputy Vice Chancellor, Tshwane University of Technology	Engineering / Academic Leadership	South Africa
10	Mqhele Dlodlo	Vice Chancellor, NUST, Zimbabwe	Engineering / Academic Leadership	Zimbabwe
11	Vibhuti Jain	MD, Regional Head of Africa, DFC	Infrastructure Finance	South Africa
12	Denamo Addisie	Professor, Addis Ababa University	Construction Project Management	Ethiopia
13	Sophonias Deneke	Director, Amigos Institute	Construction Technology	Ethiopia
14	Wubishet Jekale Menegsha	Director, Jekale CM Consultancy	Construction	Ethiopia
15	Shiferaw Alemu	Program Director, Ethiopian Aviation	Infrastructure Development	Ethiopia
16	Refilwe S. Buthelezi	President, Federation of African Engineering Organisations (FAEO)	Engineering Leadership	South Africa
17	Kazawedi Papias	Managing Director, TASK Africa	Engineering Leadership	Tanzania
18	James Afolalu	Program Manager (Data), Cognizant	Infrastructure Asset Management; IT	Nigeria
19	Alfie Chimedza	Director, Programme Advisory, Gleeds	Infrastructure Advisory	Zimbabwe
20	Yusuf Abdi	Construction Engineer, Cullen, Grummitt & Roe	Construction Engineering	Somalia
21	Bwalya Lumbwe	Construction Dispute Expert, Incipio, Zambia	Construction Law; FIDIC	Zambia
22	Derrick Nkera	Director, Turner & Townsend, Rwanda	Cost Management; Construction Consulting; East Africa	Rwanda
23	Lanre Lawale	Group Leader, Technical Specialist Services – India, Middle East and Africa, Arup	Façade Engineering	Nigeria
24	Wale Okubadejo	Managing Partner, OAC Architects	Architecture	Nigeria
25	Igbuan Okaisobor	Chief Executive Officer, Construction Kaiser	Construction Business	Nigeria
26	Claire Barclay	Partner, Pinsent Masons	Construction Law; Infrastructure Project Planning; Finance Structuring; Risk Management	South Africa
27	Theophilus Shittu	UNESCO Chair in Earthen Architecture, Building Cultures, and Sustainable Development	Sustainable Architecture; Urbanism; Architectural Technology; Construction Technology; Construction Management	Nigeria
28	Ronald Mbiu	Consultant Quantity Surveyor & Construction Project Manager, Endelevu Designs, Kenya	Sustainable Design & Construction Services	Kenya
29	Charles Malek	Global Director, Structural & Bridge Engineering, Dar Al Handasah (DAR)	Bridge Engineering; Building Structures; 3D Printing	(based in Lebanon)
30	Hussein Mohammed	Professor of Civil Engineering, Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria	Engineering Materials; Operational & Performance Evaluation of Engineering Structures	Nigeria
31	Aramide Adeyoye	Chief Executive Officer, ABM Infrastructure Advisory	Infrastructure Planning; Engineering Procurement & Construction	Nigeria
32	Katelula Kaswaga	Bridge Engineer, Yoosh	Bridge Engineering	Tanzania
33	Vishal Haripersad	Managing Director, Knight Piésold Southern Africa	Engineering (Mining & Infrastructure)	South Africa
34	Rizwan Qadri	Managing Director, Riz Consulting Services Limited	Infrastructure & Consulting	Tanzania
35	Brighton Mapfumo	Project Manager, Seychelles Infrastructure Agency	Project Management & Quantity Surveying	Seychelles
36	Charles Gavamukulya	Managing Director (Contracts and Commercial Lead), CG Engineering Consults	Construction Law & Dispute Resolution	Uganda
37	Concepter Ouma	Quantity Surveyor	Quantity Surveying	Kenya
38	John Beecroft	Chief Executive Officer, Tetramanor	Finance; Contracting	Nigeria
39	Effie Mpakati-Gama	Vice-Chancellow, University of Hebron, Malawi; Consultant, Sustainable Construction, Malawi	Sustainability; Green Construction	Malawi
40	Marzia Traverso	Professor of Sustainability in Civil Engineering; Co-founder, Circular SRL	Sustainability; Green Construction	(based in Germany)
41	Kahilu Kajimo-Shakantu	Department Head, Quantity Survey & Construction Management, University of the Free State	Construction	South Africa
42	Abimbola Windapo	Deputy Dean, University of Cape Town	Construction	South Africa / Nigeria
43	Olusegun Ijalana	Senior Architect / Project Manager, Seychelles Infrastructure Agency	Architecture	Nigeria / Seychelles
44	Marde van Wyk	Private Markets Principal Consultant, 27four	Finance	South Africa
45	Elton Zingwevu	Chief Executive Officer, Excellentia Training Solutions	Insurance	South Africa
46	Femi Edun	Director, Frontier Capital Ltd	Project Structuring	Nigeria
47	Halima Kyari	Director, Access Bank PLC	Risk Management	Nigeria

Distributed by APO Group on behalf of ConstructAfrica.

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About ConstructAfrica:
ConstructAfrica is the premier pan-African platform delivering actionable market intelligence, real-time project insights, and thought-leadership across the continent’s construction and infrastructure sectors. Through its editorial content, data products, webinars, events, and advisory engagements, ConstructAfrica supports stakeholders in navigating Africa’s dynamic built-environment landscape.

For more information, visit https://ConstructAfrica.com/

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