Concrete knowledge improvement in sub-Saharan Africa

The building situation in Africa is overwhelmed with high-priced materials and lack of adequate concrete technology, which provides a challenge in the concrete industry. Worldwide, cement and concrete experts are at the cutting-edge to sustainable, green and healthy but nonetheless highperformance concrete, which is more sustainable and safer than traditional methods of construction with clay and wood. Since concrete in Africa is rather a new construction material, this sustainability experience can offer the continent a unique opportunity to begin a constantly growing building sector with the newest state-of-the-art technology. This can be achieved without subordinating to existing standards by establishing a sustainable "African concrete technology". The major challenge for most sub-Saharan countries is the deficiency of experts, which would be required to establish such state-of-the-art technology. Based on the examples of two African-European scientific networks - SPIN and LightSHIP - this paper presents possible solution strategies for the establishment of a scientific cooperation between Europe and Africa, with links to policy making bodies that can help accelerate the progress of cement and concrete industries in Africa.