Institution of Engineers Rwanda has the honour that we introduce DAR Group as the Platinum Sponsor for the Global Engineering Conference and the WFEO Executive Council Meetings, scheduled to take place from the 15th to 18th of October 2024 at the prestigious Kigali Convention Center.

DAR Group, a globally renowned engineering, architecture, and project management consultancy, has continuously demonstrated excellence in delivering innovative and sustainable solutions across diverse sectors. Their involvement reflects their commitment to advancing engineering expertise and fostering sustainable development, aligning perfectly with the objectives of this conference and the mission of the Institution of Engineers Rwanda (IER).

We are thrilled to welcome DAR Group's leadership and expertise to this significant global event, which brings together engineers, thought leaders, and policymakers from around the world. Their support is pivotal in making this gathering a platform for impactful dialogue, collaboration, and the

Sustainable infrastructure – for an ambitious, thriving, and prosperous Rwanda

Heartened by an ambitious team of young Rwandans and supported by the capabilities of a global design consultancy that ranks among the world’s best, Dar Rwanda is providing extensive consultancy services for infrastructure projects that drive economic prosperity, high quality of life, and sustainable development – serving communities across Rwanda and yielding impacts for generations to come.

Just south of the Rwandan capital of Kigali, an ambitious new $2 billion airport is slowly taking shape. Envisioned to be an upcoming standard-bearer for Africa’s aviation industry and a regional hub connecting Rwanda to the world, the new Bugesera International Airport significantly expands the capacity of the nation’s aviation sector propulsion the country in top in the region in the sector. With a design concept that honours the wonderful undulating hills of "the land of a thousand hills,” the new airport seems to herald an incredibly ambitious new era for Rwanda – one in which sustainable infrastructure lays a bedrock for uplifting Rwandan communities and paving the way for progress and prosperity.

Developing the detailed design and supervising the construction of this airport is Dar Rwanda – the local office of Dar Al-Handasah Consultants (Shair and Partners). Dar is one of the world’s leading consultancies, providing design, planning, engineering, sustainability consulting, project management, facilities management, and digital solutions and services for buildings, cities, transportation, civil infrastructure, water, and the environment. With a global community of over 10,000 employees in 55 offices around the world, Dar takes on some of the world’s most ambitious projects to empower and connect communities, facilitate sustainable development, and enhance lives. Dar is also the founder of Sidara – a global collaborative of over 20 industry-leading brands, with over 20,000 employees in more than 300 offices. Sidara has ranked among the world’s top 10 international design firms for over a decade, currently ranking at #9 among international design consultants globally (Engineering News Record 2024).

Dar particularly specialises in developing mega infrastructure projects – in Rwanda, in Africa, and globally. Choosing Dar to provide consultancy services for Rwanda’s critical new airport was no coincidence. As the founder of Sidara, Dar is the world’s #1 design consultant for the aviation sector (as per the industry-standard ENR rankings 2023), and the company was recently commissioned to lead a joint venture to design Ethiopia’s new international airport – another monumental African endeavour. Globally, the company recently made headlines for its role as the Master Civil Engineer in Poland’s Centralny Port Komunikacyjny, Europe’s most ambitious new airport in decades.

Nor is the company’s scope limited to airports and aviation infrastructure. In Rwanda, Dar is working with public and private stakeholders to deliver a national transport master plan, to connect Rwandan communities through sustainable, effective and resilient public transport. Across Africa, Dar has been crafting visionary and inclusive master plans for cities as far away as the New Administrative Capital in Egypt and Ibadan and Ilorin in Nigeria; supporting renewable energy ventures such as the largest public renewable energy programme in Angola; delivering hospitals and healthcare facilities in Egypt and Uganda; supporting water resource planning in Tanzania and electrification ventures in Mozambique; and advising on road and transportation infrastructure across the continent.

Dar’s impact is easy to explain. The company connects global expertise with a deep-rooted presence in communities across Africa. Established in the continent since 1974, Dar has been undertaking ambitious development projects in Africa for over five decades – and has grown to encompass a community of over 2,000 employees in more than 15 African countries. More importantly, the global design consultancy employs and relies on highly talented and ambitious local staff from each country and community to tailor its global technical expertise to each local context, in order to deliver culturally-sensitive and context-appropriate infrastructure solutions that actually work for people. The company is also characterised and empowered by its ability to connect to local communities, providing capacity-building programs to transfer international expertise, and committing to a long-term and impactful presence in each of its host communities.

That connectivity and the commitment of its Rwandan staff drove Dar to embed itself quickly in its local Rwandan community – supporting community outreach initiatives such as the Girinka Munyarwanda program, partnering with the basketball community to launch the "One Shot One Tree” reforestation initiative, and joining efforts to honour the memory of the victims of the Rwandan Genocide.

In a symbolic endeavour, Dar recently played a key role in supporting the renovation of Rwanda’s iconic Amahoro Stadium – a monument of national pride that bore witness to some of the most critical moments in Rwanda’s history was expanded and refurbished into a state-of-the-art stadium that showcases proof of Rwanda’s resilience and recovery. More, it symbolises an ambitious nation on a pathway to greater industry, greater prosperity, and greater growth – and for Dar, supporting this journey is a privilege.