Following a very successful capacity building programme for 20 Sudanese contractors which was held at the University of Reading in July 2017

and partly sponsored by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB), a meeting was held on Friday 20 October 2017 at the CIOB London office, UK to discuss further ways of collaboration between the CIOB and construction professional bodies in Sudan. The meeting was attended by Mr Terry Watts the Managing Director of the CIOB and his colleague Ms Amy Gough the Operations Director at the institute, Eng. Malik Ali Dongla the President of the Organizing Council for Engineering Works Contractors and fellow of the CIOB and Dr Tabarak Ballal Associate Professor at the University of Reading and fellow of the CIOB.
The meeting addressed issues pertinent to the construction industry in Sudan. The discussions focused on facilitating the development of the industry through short-, medium- and long-term collaborative initiatives between the CIOB and its Sudanese counterpart – Sudan Engineering Society (SES).
Eng. Malik Dongla commented that: “This is an excellent opportunity for the Sudanese construction professionals and contractors. The construction industry has suffered numerous setbacks in terms of development due to the prolonged economic embargo on Sudan. Now that the embargo has been lifted, the construction industry is seeking to reverse these setbacks and provide opportunities for skills development, training and capacity building across the whole industry. This collaborative initiative with the CIOB is incredibly significant in the advancing the status of the Sudanese construction industry.”
Eng. Dongla, the first Sudanese fellow of the CIOB and Dr Ballal the first female engineer to acquire the same professional accolade, are both keen to facilitate and encourage membership/fellowship of the institution amongst Sudanese construction professionals. To this end, the meeting focused on discussing pathways to chartership status for qualified construction managers, builders and contractors. At the meeting, a number of curricula vitae of Sudanese construction professionals were presented to Mr Watts and Ms Gough to get an appreciation of the competences and experiences of potential members and fellows. These were well received by both.
Dr Ballal noted that: “I am very excited to be part of this initiative. It is extremely important that Sudanese professionals in the diaspora contribute to the advancement of their fields and facilitate knowledge transfer from their host to their home country Sudan. The CIOB is a very well respected and influential international institution focused on raising standards and developing construction management professionals. I would encourage my fellow construction professionals to put themselves forward for accreditation and professional recognition.”
 
Amongst the long-term ambitions, Eng. Dongla emphasised the importance of establishing a formal link in the form of a memorandum of understanding between the CIOB and the Sudan Engineering Society which could be operationalised to provide bespoke training, capacity building programmes and continuous professional development courses through the CIOB Academy both in the UK and in Sudan.
On their part, Ms Gough and Mr Watts, offered a 60% discount off subscription fees for Sudanese construction professionals wanting to become chartered by the CIOB. This is a generous and indeed an incredible positive gesture which reflects the role that the CIOB plays in developing construction industries in developing countries such as Sudan.
Eng. Dongla concluded by extending an invitation to senior directors of the CIOB to visit Sudan to meet with the board of the Sudan Engineering Society and other construction and engineering professional bodies in Khartoum.
At the end of the meeting, Eng. Malik Ali Dongla, special advisor on construction industry development, was presented with the CIOB fellowship certificate.