41
Innovators
on this and how
do y
ou see Zambia w
ithin this
context?
Zambia in particular, as a country, has great poten-
tial at the moment. The reason for this is that for a
long time we have under-utilized our resources and
now we have the right leadership in government to
be able to do more with our natural resources than
we have done in the past.
Government policies are the ones that are creating
an enabling environment within the country. In parti-
cular, government’s policy of opening up the country
is what will drive most of the economic growth for
the next number of years.
The big projects that are going on at the moment –
the Link Zambia 8000, and the Pave Zambia 2000
– will change the complexion of business for Zam-
bia. Rural areas are becoming more accessible, so
lots of viable businesses are now emerging in the
rural areas. Rural areas are beginning to contribute
to national development more than they have ever
done in the past.
Coul
d y
ou g
iv
e us an ov
erv
iew
of the construc-
tion sector? What are the main chal
l
eng
es fa-
cing
the industry
,
and w
hat opportunities can it
l
ook
forw
ard to?
We need to divide it into the different sectors within
the construction sector. The roads sector is the one
that has boomed tremendously, and this is throug-
hout the country. The big road projects are more or
less evenly distributed across the whole country.
It has brought a lot of employment opportunities and
business opportunities for the local businesses that
supply the construction industry across the country.
The building sector however, is regionally booming
in Lusaka. Plenty of shopping malls are coming up
and people are building houses. It does not fully re-
flect what is happening in the whole country. There
are many parts of Zambia where there is very little
building construction to talk about. Plus, if you talk
about water and sewage engineering this really has
not changed that much at all.
Do y
ou think
that the road infrastructure w
il
l
im-
prov
e the economic dev
el
opment of al
l
of these
reg
ions?
The Construction Industry and its main com-
panies play an essential role in the develop-
ment of any economy, they are an extremely
important part for the growth.
In Zambia, the construction sector has been
experiencing steady growth, mainly due to the
building of residential housing, investments
in the mines, road construction and other civil
works.
Currently, one can easily see that Zambia is
going through a big phase within its cons-
truction sector with new buildings, roads,
shopping malls, schools or hospitals that are
being built. But local contractors are seeing
how foreign construction workers receive
preferential treatment at their expense.
In this context, companies like Safricas
Zambia Ltd. are working hard to change this.
And as there is always a leader behind the big
changes and challenges in all the economy
industries, one of them is Joseph Besa, the
company’s managing director.
Mr. Besa started with a very small company
in Zambia and they grew within a matter of
months thanks to his dedication and also the
hard work of his people. Today, this well-
experienced constructor can proudly say that
he runs one of the leading companies in the
Zambian construction sector.
The European and United States economies are
facing
some chal
l
eng
es and Asian economies
are starting
to contract.
Thank
s to that,
ev
ery
o-
ne seems to be think
ing
that Africa is the next
frontier for inv
estment.
What is y
our opinion
MR.
JOSEPH BESA
Managing Director
Safricas Zambia Ltd
.
