Consulting Engineering Activities in South Africa Over The Past Year

Conditions in the consulting engineering industry are challenging, largely due to weak economic growth and the slow rollout of infrastructure projects, as reflected by a sharp decline in total fee income in 2020, followed by a slight recovery.

However, mining companies’ demand consulting engineering services is expected to grow due to the commodities boom and, over the longer term, as a result of large volumes of metals and minerals needed for the global clean energy transition. Another growth area is renewable energy projects, especially locally, due to the electricity crisis.

Africa is a key long-term growth market for infrastructure development and mining, providing opportunities for local consulting engineering firms to contribute to these projects on the continent.

Trends

Civil and structural engineering is the largest discipline in terms of fees earned, while the share of mining and chemical engineering has been growing over the past five years.

Mining, transportation, and water accounted for the largest share of fee income recorded. In the design and implementation of projects, factors such as environmental and social impacts, governance, health and safety, and sustainability are becoming increasingly important. Renewable energy projects are a growth area in engineering aspects and in social and environmental impact assessments.

Mining companies are increasingly using consulting engineers, especially in the areas of health and safety, environment, social, and governance and the engineers are also becoming more involved at the operational level with mining clients.

Consulting engineers, architects, and sustainability consultants are constantly incorporating new ideas into building designs to minimize a building’s impact on its environment.