CONSULTING ENGINEERING
TEAMWORK NEEDED to rebuild SA’s economy Taking over the reins at Consulting Engineers South Africa (CESA), incoming president Olu Soluade’s platform for the 2022/23 term is ‘A Call to Service’. Soluade has stated that it’s time for all stakeholders in the industry to come together and commit to aiding South Africa’s socioeconomic recovery.
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CESA’s Olu Soluade (left), incoming president for the 2022/23 period, together with Chris Campbell, CEO
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IMIESA February 2022
resenting at a media address in February 2022, Soluade referenced the hope that was ignited in the hearts of South Africans in Zurich 18 years ago when South Africa was announced as the hosting countr y for the 2010 FIFA World Cup. He stated that this was the birthing moment for working in unity as a countr y and proving that – together – we can be and do anything. As the presidential year begins, the main goal is to reignite the passion of the nation. “We have the ability to rewrite the gloomy narrative which has dominated our lives in recent years - the pandemic and its challenges. We can overcome, we can recover. But we have a lot of work to do. As an industry we need to ask ourselves, where do we even begin?” Soluade said. “The construction industry was again the worst-performing sector in the economy in 2021. Whatever goals we are looking to achieve, whatever message we want to
convey and whatever progress we want to make are underpinned not by the what, but by the how. We know what needs to be done to move our industry and our country forward – it is the way we do it which will define our success. I believe the time has come for us all to get involved in contributing to the economic recovery of our country,” he further stated.
Five key focus areas Much like the saying, ‘If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, go together’, Soluade stated that the focus for the year is on the ‘Team’ concept – working together to achieve more. The five key focus areas identified by CESA for 2022: 1. Increase advocacy efforts in the area of sustainable transformation in respect of race, gender and technology in the sector. 2. Maintain the standards of professionalism and build on the levels of quality management while encouraging the increased need for members to integrate
