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THE IMPACT OF CONSTRUCTION INDUSTRY IN THE DEVELOPMENT OF NIGERIA

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

 1.1     Background of the Study

According to UKCG (2009), “the construction industry is a driver of growth in other sectors due to its heavy reliance on an extended and varied supply chain”. All other sectors of the economy like manufacturing, agriculture, entertainment, transportation, education, health, sports, etc depend on construction industry as well as the construction industry relying on them for performance. The construction industry has ability to impact on other sectors because of its nature of being infrastructure provider.  There is no sector that does not depend on physical infrastructure produce by the construction industry for its production.

Oladinrin, Ogunsemi and Aje (2012) stated that “the construction industry plays an important role in the economy, and the activities of the industry are also vital to the achievement of national socio-economic development goals of providing shelter, infrastructure and employment. It is clear that construction activities affect nearly every aspect of the economy”. BIS Secretary of State Vince Cable, in September 2012, announced a review of key strategic sectors to the UK's growth and competitiveness. Construction was one of them. Traditionally, the UK construction sector has been an essential segment for performance of the UK economy and a key driver of growth. In spite of the challenges the sector has recently faced, construction continues to be one of the largest UK sectors and a key source of the UK's value added and employment. “Construction is one of the largest sectors of the UK economy. It contributes almost £90 billion to the UK economy (or 6.7%) in value added (ONS, 2011), comprises over 280,000 businesses (ONS, 2011) covering some 2.93 million jobs (BIS, 2013), which is equivalent to about 10% of total UK employment” (DBIS, 2013). Despite recent economic and financial crisis which affected most developed economies, the UK construction contracting industry remains one of the largest in Europe, measured by employment, number of enterprises, and gross value added. However, UK construction industry is also more fragmented than its major European competitors and the evidence shows in that it has higher levels of sub-contracting (CIB, 2010; HM Treasury, 2010). Construction is the fastest sector for transforming a nation and its economy. “Dubai is set to build the biggest mall in the world, one that would house 100 hotels, eight million square feet of stores and retail outlets, a wellness centre, a theme park and other features. The emirate hopes to attract 180 million visitors yearly to the proposed ‘Mall of the World’ to capitalize on ‘the growth in family and retail tourism’. The Dubai Mall which claims to be the largest shopping mall in the world based on squared feet, houses 600 plus stores and retailers, ice rink, an aquarium, water fountain and waterfalls, a gold souk and more” (Aitose, 2014). Construction, in Dubai, is being used to develop a desert into a bubbling city.