Construction

The construction sector in Zambia is led by the demand of the mining industry, shopping centers, infrastructure development, residential buildings and offices.

The Zambia real estate and construction sector grew by 9.5% and 9.1% respectively in 2013 and 2014.

According to the Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) Zambia recorded USD 3.3 billion in foreign direct investment mainly in the construction sector in 2014.

Building and construction has been the largest industrial sector of Zambia comprising 27.5% of the GDP with a growth rate of 12% in 2014.

It is estimated that the backlog of housing units in Zambia is about one million and that 110,000 units per year will be required to clear the backlog for the next ten years.

The Zambian government has allocated a major part of its construction budget to the development of the Link 8,000 and Pave 2,000 road network projects.

Due to increased investment in construction, the Zambia Development Agency predicts an increase in demand of steel from 200,000 tons in 2011 to 300,000 tons by 2016.

Due to focus on construction, the logistics sector is also benefitting. More than USD5 billion is being invested in rail and road networks in the next 5 years [2015-2020].

This investment will play role in galvanizing the new logistics parks for servicing mining sector of Southern Democratic Republic of Congo as well as Copperbelt region of Zambia.