Africa Innovates Magazine - Flipbook - Page 64
BUILDING
WITH LOCAL
MATERIALS
Messibat International is a company
based in Cameroon, Togo, and France,
founded in 2008. It’s developing green
buildings made of local and ecological
materials, and has received several
awards from organizations like the
Solar Impulse Foundation, which
awards prizes for green solutions.
Concrete is one of the main producers of
carbon dioxide and can also contribute
to soil erosion and water pollution,
exacerbating the damage inflicted by
Africa’s extreme climate events. However,
affordable housing is needed to meet the
growing demand. Messibat international
aims to respond to this demand using
traditional knowledge and local materials,
which are less harmful to the environment
and better adapted to the African climate.
POSITIVE
ENERGY
Founder Messina Guikoumé, a civil
engineer, was disturbed when seeing
housing systems that were poorly adapted
to Cameroon’s climate. She was also tired
of paying huge electricity bills for air
conditioning. In 2009, she commenced
a lifelong journey to create affordable,
ecological housing for all Africans.
Messina stays up-to-date with the latest
research on materials available in Africa,
which have characteristics that could be
interesting for her work – glass, concrete
and metal store heat, whereas typha,
for instance, has properties in thermal
insulation and air permeability.
She’s also very interested in earthen
buildings, which are constructed with
unbaked earth. This technique, used in
many countries around the world, does
not need any transport (earth is, of course,
everywhere) and is recycling-friendly. And
because the earth contains clay, it has
heat and water regulating properties.
When she started her business in
Cameroon, Messina had to build sample
houses with unbaked earth, as nobody
would believe that an earthen house
would be climate-efficient, or that it
could survive the rainy season without
collapsing.
Photo credit: Messina Guikoume
The company sources its materials from
local producers, focusing on those that
are bio-sourced. It also invented a solarpowered ventilation system that uses a
pump, placed under the house, to ensure
that air circulates and to help avoid the
use of air conditioning.
“Messibat creates
affordable, ecological
homes for everybody – the
poorest, the middle and
the upper classes, in Africa
and around the world.”
“I’m proud to be an
example for African
women, and to prove how
successful we can be in
engineering – traditionally
such a male-dominated
field.”
Messina Guikoumé,
Messibat International CEO
64
IIMPROVED LIVELIHOODS
MEET THE WOMAN BUILDING
GREEN HABITATS
IN CAMEROON, TOGO, AND FRANCE
SHOWCASING AFRICAN CLIMATE CHAMPIONS
Photo credit: Messibat International
