Zambia construction industry records 9.9% growth

Zambia construction industry records 9.9% growth
05 October 2009


The construction industry has recorded a 9.9 per cent growth since the beginning of the year despite effects of the credit crunch on the local economy.

The 9.9 per cent growth rate recorded so far is over four per cent above the target of around five per cent as predicted by the National Council for Construction (NCC).

During a press briefing in Lusaka on Tuesday, NCC executive director Dr Sylvester Mashamba said the overall performance of the construction industry had been very good despite of the challenges that the country had been experiencing economically.

“Everything has been going well in the sector but for the period when Lafarge Zambia had temporally stop production,” he said. “At that time cement prices had escalated to around K95,000 but prices have since normalised with the commencement of production by the Lafarge Zambia.”

And Dr Mashamba said the delayed investigations of 21 construction companies blacklisted from carrying out construction works in the country had taken too long, saying this was affecting the construction sector.

He added that the quality of construction in the country had improved remarkably, with the private sector playing an important role in this development.
Published under Cement News