• Routine maintenance projects in the road sector have accommodated a number of women.
• Zambia is doing better than most countries in Africa.
• In other countries there is no women presence participating in the construction sector.

Zambia Association of Citizen Contractors (ZACCO) says government has made notable strides in supporting women owned construction companies in the country.
Association General Secretary Danny Simumba told Money FM News in an interview that the requirement that 30 percent of jobs advertised by Road Development Agency (RDA) should be given to women owned construction firms is one of the incentives that government has provided for the women in the sector.
Mr. Simumba stated that routine maintenance projects in the road sector have also accommodated a number of women, through such incentives as preferential procurement.
He noted that the when it comes to evaluation and training, women owned construction companies are given preference.
“The incentives like in the construction sector come in various forms. For example if RDA is advertising works, there is normally a provision or a requirement that 30 percent of those works should be reserved for women owned construction companies. So that is one of the incentives that I can cite.”
“And even when it comes to evaluation and training, women owned construction companies are given preference and sometimes National Council for Construction would even subsidize trainings were women are involved,” Mr. Simumba said.
Mr. Simumba further observed that Zambia is doing better than most African countries , because most of them do not have women e participating in the construction sector.
“Zambia is doing better than most of other countries in Africa, because it’s like here we follow through these issues of preference to women. So we doing better than other countries, in other countries there is no women presence participating in the construction sector but in Zambia the women are active.”
‘This is the story that is not told and we need to recognize the effort by government and all stakeholders in the construction industry of Zambia,” he noted.
Meanwhile, Mr. Simumba advised women in the construction industry to continue being active because the sector is no longer dominated by men.
“The women should keep on being active in the construction sector because it is no longer a male dominated field, women can do what men can do. We have women civil engineers, mechanical, electrical engineers; we have women technicians, technologists, so they are part of the industry.”
“ What I would encourage them is to continue getting involved and not to shy away from participating in the construction industry because it is an area where they can make an impact and already they are doing that,” he said.
Zambia will on 8th March 2022 join the rest of the globe in celebrating International Women’s under the theme: Gender Equality today for a Sustainable tomorrow.”