The magnitude of barriers facing the development of the construction and building materials industries in developing countries, with special reference to Sudan in Africa

The aim of this paper is to examine, comprehensively, the factors which affect the performance and development of the construction industry (CI) and the building materials industry (BMI) in developing countries (DCs) with special focus on Sudan. This paper investigates the perception of the Sudanese construction industry (SCI) and the Sudanese building materials industry (SBMI) stakeholders towards the importance of factors which negatively influence the performance of both industries. It examines the interrelationship between factors influencing the performance of the SCI and the SBMI. The collected data is derived from a questionnaire which was circulated to different stakeholders of the SCI including consultants, contractors, real estate investors, clients, researchers, academicians, materials manufacturers and suppliers, financial institutions and non-governmental organizations (NGOs).The results indicate that the socio-economic and political factors are of great importance to the performance of both industries. Therefore, the paper recommends that the government should lay the ground for the development of the construction sector through strategic planning and policy formulation. It also recommends establishing a central agency (Construction Industry Development Board) to be responsible for the development of the industry.