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Kampala, Uganda | THE INDEPENDENT | The Deputy Speaker of Parliament Thomas Tayebwa challenged engineers to put innovation at the centre of their work.
He said innovation will help the African Continent to find homegrown solutions to its challenges, especially in the road and construction sector.
Speaking at the 2023 National Technology Conference and Exhibition (NTCE) organised by the Uganda Institution of Professional Engineers (UIPE) in Kampala, Tayebwa, said professional engineers should exploit the emerging opportunities for innovation and make a contribution to the continent’s socio-economic transformation.
“I urge you as engineers to put innovation at the centre of whatever you’re doing,” Tayebwa said, adding that the ability to resolve critical problems depends on innovations, and especially developing countries need it more than ever.
“I hope by the time you get out of here, you will help us to address the question of the high cost of road construction in most of our countries,” Tayebwa said.
The Deputy Speaker cited an example of Entebbe Expressway, a 53km Highway with four lanes. About $9 million was spent per kilometre, which brought the total cost to $476 million. While Kenya’s Thika Highway, a 50km long, eight lanes cost about $7.2m per kilometre, with a total cost of $360 million.
He said the profession will have to take a more strategic and holistic approach to managing and developing national infrastructure projects to help address such challenges.
“Why don’t we set standards and share knowledge for the African continent on such projects because the terrain is more or less the same, the cost of labour is a little bit close, and the cost of materials are also in the same price range, he said, adding that these can be done through collaboration.
