NAIROBI, Feb. 28 (Xinhua) -- Chinese contractors have played a significant role in modernizing Africa's skyline, the industry said on Thursday.
Catherine Kariuki, President of African Real Estate Society (AfRES) told Xinhua in Nairobi that most metropolises in Africa have seen the emergence of skyscrapers in the past decade.
"The changing skylines in Africa have been due to the input of Chinese financial and technical capacity," said Kariuki.
Kariuki said that local contractors lack technical and financial capacity to undertake high-rise buildings that are common in urban centers.
She said that the Chinese have also introduced new technology that has reduced construction time for large scale real estate projects.
"This has in turn lowered the cost of construction in the continent," she added.
According to AfRES, the cost of land in Africa especially in urban centers has been increasing rapidly due to expanding economies as well as increasing rates of urbanization.
"Therefore land has become very scarce for development and therefore the Chinese have played a useful role by enabling Africa to construct modern high rise buildings that require less land," she added.
She also called for African governments to review their policies to ensure that local real estate sector is empowered to adopt modern construction technologies.
