Construction

The Construction Sector

The Construction sector, particularly infrastructure development, has a major influence on the development of Zambia. The country’s economic activity to a large extent depends on the state of infrastructure, particularly the road network. This is especially critical for Zambia, being landlocked and whose trade linkages with the SADC and COMESA regional blocs depend largely on having an effective international and internal road network.

Zambia is moving from a mineral-based economy to an agricultural, manufacturing and service based economy through the active encouragement of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) through privatisation and public-private partnership arrangements. The Government intends to involve the private sector in infrastructure development programmes through Private-Public Partnerships. Steady growth rates and the restructuring of the Zambian economy have opened new horizons for investment. As a result, several sectoral and privatisation investment opportunities are being generated every year. This increased investment will inevitably bring with it a considerable increase in the level of building and construction in Zambia. This will be reflected both in the housing sector and in general infrastructure construction, which the country will need if its present level of growth continues.

Regulation of the Construction Industry

The Construction industry in Zambia is regulated by the National Council for Construction. The establishment of the National Council for Construction (NCC), and its subsequent transformation into a statutory body are a manifestation of the Government’s commitment to developing a sustainable local construction industry. The NCC was established with the key objective of developing the local construction capacity in the country. The NCC is responsible for registering, upgrading, and downgrading consultants and contractors, in addition to monitoring the industry.

Performance of the Construction sector

The construction sector has experienced growth in the past few years. In terms of contribution to GDP, the sector contributed 6.5% to GDP in 2004 compared to 5.3% in 2001. The largest contributor is building materials and private contracting firms largely dominate the construction sector. The major contributing factors for the growth in the construction sector were the increase in cement sales and quarrying activities, as well as an increase in public and private sector construction works.