The development has been announced by the Council’s Chief Executive Officer, Linda Phiri.

She said the move was aimed at empowering small scale local contractors who have potential to realize their dreams but lack necessary skills to move forward.

Phiri observed that there are some remote areas in the country where rolling out even small projects is difficult because most local contractors usually shun them on the basis that they cannot manage them.

A newly-released report by NCIC shows that only four per cent of construction projects in the country are being undertaken by Malawian contractors, while the rest are taken by foreign firms.

The National Construction Industry Council (NCIC) was established through an Act of Parliament in 1996 with a clear mandate to regulate, promote and develop the construction industry in Malawi.

Their mission is to create an enabling environment for the development of a vibrant, efficient and sustainable local construction industry that meets the demand for its services.

This would provide support for sustainable economic and social development objectives.

They hope to create a construction industry that sustainably supports national economic development through planning and construction of quality and socially friendly infrastructure products.

The council recently hinted that it was working towards phasing out all sub standard contractors in order to regulate individual profession and thus enhance quality infrastructure.

During a recent National Construction Industry Policy Implementation, Monitoring and Evaluation Strategy meeting, NCIC CEO, Linda Phiri, said there was need to register Malawian Construction Firms in order to ensure that they are competent.

This, she said, would aid in resource management and impartation of managerial skills.