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Construction craft skills requirements in sub-Saharan Africa: a focus on Zambia

journal contribution
posted on 2019-08-20, 08:12 authored by Mundia Muya, Andrew Price, Francis Edum-Fotwe
Purpose – As the development agenda for sub-Sahara Africa (SSA) gains momentum, it has become necessary to refocus attention on effective and sustainable human resource development strategies for the construction sector in the region that include craft skills. Aims to provide insight into the availability and quality of construction craft skills in Zambia, and the SSA region in general. Design/methodology/approach – Using Zambia as a country case study, results of a survey that was designed to assess the construction industry's perceptions of the quality and availability of construction craft skills in Zambia are presented. The surveyed contractors' support for the introduction of a sector-specific training levy in Zambia was also investigated and is reported. Findings – Findings point to both poor quality and shortage of construction craft skills in Zambia. Results suggest that construction sector-specific training levy would be the most viable, sustainable and industry-wide supported option for supplementing government funding in the training of construction craft skills in Zambia, and probably in the SSA region. Research limitations/implications – The survey was exploratory in nature and depth, and SSA is a vast and diverse region. The results of the case study may not correctly reflect construction skills exigencies across the whole SSA region. Originality/value – The results provide information and advice for both policy makers and contractors concerned with construction crafts skills issues in Zambia, and SSA in general. © 2006, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

History

School

  • Architecture, Building and Civil Engineering

Published in

Engineering, Construction and Architectural Management

Volume

13

Issue

(3)

Pages

223 - 241

Publisher

Emerald

Version

  • VoR (Version of Record)

Rights holder

© Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Publication date

2006-05-01

Copyright date

2006

Notes

This paper explores skills needs of construction in Zambia and provides key recommendations for meeting those needs. The paper emanates from a collaboration between Loughborough (Edum Fotwe & Price) and the University of Zambia (Muya). The project was part of a £20K initiative funded by the DFID and administered by British Council (Zambia). The output from the paper was incorporated into the policy framework of Construction Unit (CU), OHS Services Department in Zambia's Ministry of Labour and Social Security. The recommendations from the paper were employed by the CU for setting operational targets for TEVET, the body responsible for regulating technical education and training in Zambia. This publication has given rise to a public project on modelling skills in construction for the public sector in Zambia, which is being taken forward by Muya. The work has also led to an Engineering Doctorate project entitled Meeting the Challenge - UK Construction Labour Market, on construction craft skills, sponsored by Construction Skills.

ISSN

0969-9988

Language

  • en

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