Times are changing and rapidly so. Disruptive technologies are taking over the world at lightning speed in almost every sector. This era is not exclusive of the construction, housing and real estate industry. The transition to digital world is here and there is no way to escape it. This is already changing the way we live in various ways. Shopping styles are changing. People are doing more and more online shopping. Social media has become a necessity for both business and personal issue.

The construction and real estate has sort of lagged behind the other sectors as far as innovation and technology is concerned although the trend is slowly by slowly changing. This however is more on the real estate side than it is on construction sector. This I believe is because people in construction industry do not consider this a major investment area which is not right considering the changing times. When it comes to Africa, we are even more behind yet we have a very hot market for real estate and housing.

The rapid economic growth taking place in various African economies has seen the rise in the middle income class of people and lots of people migrating to urban places in search for jobs. This has left a shortage of housing and accommodation. The government of Rwanda has been tackling the issue of Affordable housing for its citizens as it is a major challenge today. Also, African countries have a very high rate of population growth. These factors have a lot of room for improvement in the housing industry.

This is definitely should be a call to Africans in the industry to think beyond the box, to devise and innovate new ways to deal with our problems. No one will make solutions fitting the African community as well as Africans would. With new technologies coming up every day, nothing is impossible. New companies should take into consideration new technologies as old companies also adopt some if they are to stay operational in this digital era.