Zambia has a young and dynamic population. However, the country faces significant challenges in equipping young people with relevant skills and creating job opportunities. The construction sector, a substantial contributor to Zambia’s GDP, is in desperate need of more skilled workers which presents exciting opportunities for young people.
The WorldSkills Africa competition will be held in Livingstone, Zambia in 2025. The event champions the advancement of vocational education and training across the continent.
In preparation, Build It is honoured to host some of the WorldSkills Zambia National Selection Competitions at our Centre for Excellence next month.
Build It trains young men and women from disadvantaged backgrounds with new skills in construction. We are committed to fostering sustainable livelihoods through skills development and have trained nearly 2,000 trainees – 25% of them women.
At the heart of our work is our training centre – the ‘Centre for Excellence’, situated on a two-hectare site next to the Great North Road in Lusaka, Zambia’s capital.
The construction of the Centre for Excellence has been a game changer for Build It, enabling further development of training and support offered to young people. Today the Centre for Excellence stands as a vibrant hub of creativity and learning, where dreams take shape and futures are built.
The Centre for Excellence is also a hub for collaboration, as Chilufya Kasutu, Build It Country Director explains:
“Effective partnerships are key to unlocking opportunities for Zambia’s youth. That’s why we’re thrilled to announce our partnership with WorldSkills Zambia. Next month, we will host the WorldSkills Zambia National Selection Competitions in both Bricklaying and Plastering, and in Tiling, here at the Centre for Excellence.
We very much look forward to welcoming young people and organisations from across the sector. Learning, sharing and collaboration between partners is vital to implement the widescale changes needed to help more young people work and thrive.
And we are delighted to hear that Build It graduate Ruth Kampengele is one of the tiling experts with WorldSkills Zambia. Ruth will be helping to coach some of the young people taking part in the competition.
Ruth trained with us in 2016, went on to represent Zambia at WorldSkills Abu Dhabi 2017 and is now armed with a degree in Construction Management! Well done Ruth – a fantastic personal achievement, and a testament to the impact of investing in our young people.”
