Challenges of Designing Remote Communities in Equatorial Africa: Okolassi Example

Developing countries in Africa are facing numerous challenges in the process of constructing new settlements in the remote areas. Most of the construction activities are performed in the big cities, encouraging major migrations from all sides of country to the dense urban areas. Developing new settlements on the outskirt of the city is the only way to prevent its collapse. However, these areas have no infrastructure needed for the purpose. The paper will present the case study of the construction challenges during the design and construction of the new settlement in Okolassi, local community 30 km distant of the capital Libreville. Different challenges like poor road infrastructure, lack of electricity, water and sewage, or non-ex-istence of the skilful workforce, could transform even the simplest construction task in the insur-mountable problem. Careful planning and designing are essential for the successful procurement and construction in the rainforest environment.