By KENNEDY MUPESENI –

THE Zambia Development Agency (ZDA) will start linking small-scale stone crushers to housing and commercial developers under the green jobs initiative which aims at empowering the stone crushers with job opportunities.
Government is also in the process of revising the ZDA Act to make it more receptive to local Micro Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (MSMEs) in the country.
In a presentation at the recently held First National Bank/Zambia International Property Expo in Lusaka, ZDA director for enterprise development Mukula Makasa said small scale stone crushers in various townships would be linked to property developers around the country.
“We want to link small stones crushers to property developers under the green job programme for them to get more business,” Mr Makasa said.
ZDA had since urged small businesses such as stone crushers to register to acquire certificates of operations from the Patents and
Companies Registration Agency (PACRA) and ZDA to access supply and financial facilities.
“Let us put our heads together and move the country forward, find solutions and stop complaining, I have better business for you through opportunities like the green job initiative,” he said.
Recently the International Labour Organisation (ILO) office for Zambia had with five United Nations agencies, signed a Euro 5.7million
(K41million) agreement with Finland to finance the implementation of a joint programme aimed at enhancing competitiveness and sustainable business among MSMEs in the construction industry dubbed the ‘Zambian Green Jobs Programme’.
The UN agencies involved were the ILO, Food and Agriculture Organisation and United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the International Trade Centre and the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development.
The programme aimed at creating at least 5,000 jobs particularly for youth entrepreneurs, improving the incomes of at least 8,000 households and improving the quality of at least 2,000 jobs in the MSME sector.
The programme would significantly contribute to environmental conservation efforts, in terms of reduced consumption of electricity from non-renewable energy sources in the newly constructed buildings or by retrofitting buildings in line with greener building standards.