Essay
Building through African climates
Salt air, harmattan dust, tropical rain, and Sahel heat are not edge cases. They are the design climate of this continent.
Steel catalogues written for temperate inland cities mislead African sites. Chlorides at Lagos, dust abrasion in the Sahel, and year-round wetness on the Congo side of the forest all eat the wrong coating in a hurry.
The answer is not a romantic local material in every case. It is the right grade, the right cover, the right paint category, and inspection that happens before the piece is buried in concrete or hung over surf.
Williams & Sons Steel will refuse to treat climate as a footnote. Exposure belongs in the first page of a steel enquiry, beside grade and tonnage.