The increasingly important role women play in the construction industry will be acknowledged and honoured at concrete trade fair the Totally Concrete Expo to be held at the Sandton Convention Centre in Johannesburg on May 28.

The second edition of the Women in Con-struction Excellence Awards will feature participants from more than 25 African coun- tries, recognising the rising stars of the indus-try – women who are contributing to the socio-economic transformation of a continent by bringing innovation and sustainability to the African built environment.

Last year’s participants included cement producer PPC South Africa GM Busi Legodi and construction career and enterprise development centre Khuthaza executive director Elizabeth O’Leary, who were the recipients of the Totally Concrete Women in Construction Excellence industry transformation and excellence awards.

O’Leary, an industry veteran who has been involved in housing and construction initiatives since 1995, says greater acknowledgement of positive initiatives in the construction industry, will result in the increased realisation that women are contributing to the industry, and more opportunities will be made available to them.

A growing body of microeconomic evidence shows that an increase in women’s education, labour force participation and earnings stimu-lates socioeconomic development.

Totally Concrete Expo’s advisory board member and Nigerian Building and Road Research Institute CEO Professor Danladi Matawal says it is important to have an award that encourages African women from places such as Egypt, Ghana, Nigeria and South Africa, to pursue careers in construction.

The Totally Concrete Expo plays its role by featuring Africa’s leading industry women among its 150 featured speakers.

Personalities such as KPMG senior economist Lullu Krugel, Concrete Growth MD Santie Gouws, PPC South Africa head of business development Happy-Girl Buthelezi, Master Builders South Africa executive director Itumeleng Dlamini and Industry Insight CEO Elsie Snyman will bring their expertise to the forefront through strategic roundtable discussions targeting the efficient and sus- tainable delivery of construction and infra-structure projects in sub-Saharan Africa.

Totally Concrete Expo is co-located with the premier African Construction Expo this year, incorporating both strategic and technical elements into the three-track programme.

The African Construction Expo offers finance and management tools for infrastructure project delivery and together the two events attract 4 000 participants from more than 40 countries worldwide.

Nominations for the Women in Construction Excellence Awards have been received from participants in more than five African countries to date.