Finance Minister Bwalya Ng’andu says government will not limit the awarding of contracts to 20 per cent only for local contractors if they have the ability and capacity to undertake big projects.
Dr Ng’andu was speaking during the 30-year anniversary for Tomorrow Investments in Lusaka last night.
He said Zambia cannot import development because it is Zambians themselves who should develop and improve the economic landscape of the country.
Dr Ng’andu said government will always respond to contractors and businesses that show resilience and commitment by providing incentives.
The Finance Minister praised Tomorrow Investment for being a role model and a company that has benefited from the 20 percent sub-contraction policy by government.
Meanwhile, Tomorrow Investments chief executive officer, Augustine Katotobwe said it has not been an easy journey to grow the business to the level at which it is today.
He thanked government for providing a conducive environment for local contractor to thrive.
Mr Katototwe said the leadership of President Edgar Lungu has inspired more local businesses grow and contribute to the economic development of the country.
He called on imagine local contractors to show commitment and perform to the expectations for clients.
Meanwhile, National Council for Construction chief executive officer, Matthew Ngulube called on local contractor to do their best in order to win the trust.
He said Zambia has several local contractors who can perform and can compete favourably with foreign contractors.
Yes the other problem is you have to be a cader or sponsor of PF to get these contracts ….that is the part you won’t mention
How much do you pay PF for the contracts is what you failed to disclose
That’s good news it’s supposed to be 20 percent foreigners 80percent zambians
Zambian contractors we should fight about this .this is very unfair .
Indeed Tomorrow Investments is a survivor, he was even once blacklisted. The reason local contractors fail to execute contracts is the shoddy funding from Govt. Now even the Chinese are failing because their Govt has stopped funding any contract, they now also cease operations whenever there’s no funding. If you pay 15% and commit to pay the next 35% within 60 days please do what you’ve agreed to. You can’t default by over 1 year and expect the contractor not continue maintaining workers and equipment for that long. It’s not possible. And 1 reason construction workers get poor wages is that it’s the least considered component in the BOQ and it remains static for the duration of the contract. If the project is for 36 months then workers should expect to get the same wage for 3yrs!
How come Rwanda, which just came out of a civil war, without the mineral wealth Zambia has , without the billions PF had at their disposal, is way ahead of Zambia on all world scorecards ????
Because Zambians are thieves. They don’t want to sweat for money and for many, the only reason they form companies is to defraud government. Just count how many projects have been abandoned by Zambian contractors.
Paul Kagame doesn’t tolerate nonsense, it’s the reason some have labeled him a dictator. Compare India and China which have similar demographics and were born at almost the same time. China which is authoritarian is now a world power while democratic India is still wallowing in abject poverty. They’ve misinterpreted democracy to mean lazing around and stealing without being caught. In China most offences are punishable by death. You need discipline and consistence to develop, so if people can’t discipline themselves then you’ve to force it on them even at the expense of being called a dictator
Some local contractors have no pride in making their country beautiful and end up abandoning the projects or connive with some unscrupulous ministers to swindle taxpayers’ money. The government is also very slow in paying local contractors due to small fish syndrome. Isn’t the recently announced budget about paying debts? How do you expect businesses to survive without payment?
5.2 Ayatollah “In China most offences are punishable by death”.
Tell me which Zambian politicians will want to pass such a law? Not even HH, and least of all Chimbwili.
The problem is people with honor that can take pride in doing a good job have not learnt the art of bootlicking. But there are lots of role models to learn from so it not to late.