Sub-Saharan Africa is experiencing rapid transformation. The OECD predicts the continent’s population will double by 2050, with two-thirds of people living in cities. The International Energy Agency has forecast that 80% of new global construction will take place in emerging economies. The growth is staggering - but it also presents a profound challenge. Local engineers often face constraints in accessing the right structural engineering resources and specialist guidance. By working in partnership with local PEIs, we can help support their members by sharing our expertise where needed.
Our partnership focuses on three strategic pillars:
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Empowering local PEIs
We are licensing key IStructE publications - including our Technical Guidance Notes, Essential Knowledge Texts, and the Climate Emergency Toolkit - to partner PEIs, allowing their members to access world-class resources. These materials include cutting-edge theories and practices featured in The Structural Engineer magazine.
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Supporting practising engineers
By identifying gaps in education and skills, we will deliver tailored training - covering core materials like concrete and steel design, disaster resilience, and climate-adapted construction. These programmes will be adapted for local contexts, including guidance for designing with locally sourced materials and co-created region-specific knowledge.
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Investing in the next generation
We are actively promoting the Institution’s free student membership offer via local PEIs to engineering undergraduates across Africa, opening up our full suite of resources. Alongside this, we’ll establish young member networks linked to existing IStructE groups, providing community, mentorship, and peer support.
Our focus is on building strong relationships with PEIs, sharing resources, and delivering impactful training. Over time, we hope to see our partnership putting low-carbon, high-resilience thinking at the heart of every structure.
At IStructE, we’ve long recognised the vital importance of sustainability. Since our 2019 commitment to treat it with equal weight to safety, we’ve created over 200 pieces of climate-sensitive guidance. With this new initiative, we’re taking that knowledge to where it can have the most impact - supporting engineers who are shaping the future of some of the world’s fastest-growing cities.
Structural engineers everywhere have a shared responsibility: to protect lives, build sustainably, and uphold the integrity of our profession.
Through the Pan African Structural Engineering Partnership, we are proud to stand in solidarity with our colleagues in Africa - and to invest in a future that is safer, stronger, and more sustainable for us all.
Yasmin is the Chief Executive, of The Institution of Structural Engineers