Africa’s Cement Industry to Gather in Cape Town

Africa’s cement industry will for two days this April gather in one of the continent’s biggest environmental and sustainable built environment events.

The inaugural Environmental Cement Africa Conference in Cape Town, South Africa will identify and deliberate on issues around the environment from the African cement producers’ perspective, Demsas Faloppa, CEO of Prescon Ltd, the event’s organiser, said.

The conference, to be held on 20 and 21 April, has some ambitious objectives with key speakers from Lafarge, PPC, Afrisam, UNEP, Suez Cement Company, Eritrean Government, MVW Lechtenberg, Trilogy Partners and WBCSD.

“The event aims to set the agenda for environmental development in the African cement industry, support the engagement of environmental organisations, policy-makers and industry”, Faloppa said.

“It will also facilitate knowledge-sharing in environmental issues, investment & growth opportunities and logistical challenges and drive change across the cement industry as a whole, specifically within the African continent.”

Global cement production is thought to account for as much as 5 per cent of global emissions of carbon dioxide but there are no clear figures for emissions from cement manufacturing in Africa although analysts believe it should be significant.

“This conference comes at a crucial inflection point of the global debate on the environment, and particularly climate change”, Roland Hunziker of World Business Council for Sustainable Development (WBCSD)’s Cement Sustainability Initiative, said.

“The Initiative is proactively addressing key issues such as emissions reductions, alternative fuel use and reduction of impacts on local communities, among many others. Individual company action as well as collaborative efforts, bringing together industry players, NGOs and governmental organizations, are today key to advancing sustainable development in our sector,” Hunziker added.

The Environmental Cement Africa Conference is an annual event dedicated to senior level executives and decision-makers in the African cement industry. It will target international, regional and local cement producers and suppliers, attracting government officials and construction companies from across the African continent.

Africa, the world’s second-largest and second most-populous continent, is becoming a hot spot in both the Cement industry as well as Environmental Development. Possessing the world’s largest mineral reserves, untapped agricultural capacity along with infrastructure development potential it is foreseen that the African Cement industry will have the highest growth rates in the next few decades.

As a result, the cement industry can play a significant role in driving the environmental development of the continent as a whole. This is primarily by the use of alternative fuels made from municipal and industrial wastes as well as infrastructural support.

The conference concept came about when Faloppa, the event founder, and his co-partners, identified the lack of focus on environmental issues from the African cement producers’ perspective.

The conference showcases environmental leaders in the cement industry with speakers from Lafarge, PPC and Afrisam giving case studies. It outlines the South African cement industry initiatives, alternative fuel projects in Africa and carbon management models in construction.

At policy level, it updates on waste management policies, provides the Cement Sustainability Initiative guidelines, good practice and key objectives and UNEP discuss the road towards a sustainable cement industry in Africa. Logistical challenges, projections and future investment opportunities in African cement are also discussed.

Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC), the leading supplier of cement in Southern Africa, will take a group of conference participants to visit their Riebeeck cement plant to demonstrate the environmental progress they have made with this site and the benefits this has or will bring to the environment more generally.

This event comes at a crucial point of inflection for the environmental global debate and particularly climate change. This is reflective in the increased environmental activity in the African cement industry with the Increasing number of plants using alternative fuel sources and reducing carbon emissions e.g. Cemex burning tyres for fuel, Afrisam introducing carbon dioxide rating stamps, Cimerwa’s new plant being built that reduces costs by 70% from sourcing 80% of its energy from peat and Environment policies being put into place by cement companies such as TPCC in Tanzania.

Michelle Fanus, the event’s producer, says the Environmental Cement Africa Conference is a must attend for all African cement industry players who want to support environmental development. It will be held at the Mount Nelson hotel in Cape Town, South Africa.

For more information and to register, go to the event website to receive the early bird discount if you register before 14th March 2010.

Image credit: Oskay/ Flickr