A national centre of excellence in heavy equipment training — bridging Zambia's skills gap with world-class standards, real machinery, and real opportunity.
Zambia's mines were expanding. The workers weren't ready.
Copper fuels 70% of Zambia's export earnings, yet the TVET system had no standardised curriculum for the operators who run the excavators, dump trucks, and loaders that keep those mines moving. Skilled youth existed; they just had nowhere to learn.
Four partners — Government of Japan, Zambia, Hitachi Construction Machinery, and UNIDO — united to create something unprecedented: a Public-Private Development Partnership to transform Kitwe Vocational Training Centre into a national hub for heavy equipment training.
Watch our students develop real-world skills on actual heavy equipment.
In 2021, the Government of Japan, the Government of Zambia, Hitachi Construction Machinery, and United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO) agreed to create something unprecedented, a Public-Private Development Partnership to transform Kitwe Vocational Training Centre into a nationally recognised hub for heavy equipment operation training.
The initiative reflects a shared commitment to establish a Public-Private Development Partnership that enhances decent employment opportunities for Zambian youth by narrowing the gap between supply and demand for skills in heavy equipment operations.
Scroll through the project milestones
Before writing a single module, the team went out and listened. A Labour Market Survey and Training Needs Assessment reached 651 mining and construction firms across the Copperbelt, Lusaka, and Northwestern provinces. The message was unambiguous: Zambia urgently needed standardised, competency-based training for heavy equipment operators.
Three nationally accredited curricula, written from scratch, approved by TEVETA. In partnership with TEVETA, industry experts, and project partner Hitachi Construction Machinery, the team developed, validated, and obtained approval for three Skills Award curricula: Excavator Operations, Dump Truck Operations, and Front-End Loader Operations. This was the first formally standardised operator training curriculum in Zambia's history.
KVTC Trainers Sharpen Practical Skills Through Hands-On Machinery Training in Japan. Five KVTC technical staff undertook a series of six staff development programmes, including two study tours to Hitachi's facilities in Zambia and Japan, hands-on training at First Quantum Minerals' Kalumbila Mine, and specialist excavator training at HCMZ. They returned different people: exposed to world-class equipment, standards, and practices they would now teach.
A training circuit rises. Real machines arrive on site. Design reviews, permits, and groundwork reshaped KVTC. Renovations were completed for a partitioned simulator lab and lecture room, while plans advanced for a specialised HEO workshop and reinforced training circuit. The project procured a Hitachi excavator, front-end loader, and dump truck — the first training machines KVTC had ever owned. A reinforced training circuit transformed a basic practice yard into a realistic simulated worksite.
Twenty-five pioneers sit in Zambia's first accredited HEO class. The pilot Excavator Operations cohort began training in 2024. Twenty-five young people, including 11 women became the living proof that the project was real. Every module they completed, every practical hour they logged, validated years of preparation. Thirteen graduated. The journey from curriculum to classroom was complete.
Excavator, Dump Truck, and Front-End Loader, running at once for the first time. 2025 marked the turning point. KVTC moved from pilot delivery to full-scale concurrent operations. Nine training intakes ran across three programmes. 185 students graduated in this period alone. The institution had become what the project always envisioned — a functioning, multi-programme training hub.
Female participation doubles: from 15% to 30% in one year. Radio broadcasts, targeted social media campaigns, and community outreach, deliberately designed to reach women in a male-dominated industry, doubled female graduation rates. Of 1,199 total applicants, 282 were women. Four female graduates secured employment in the mining sector within six months.
87% employer satisfaction. Graduates praised for safety, discipline, and readiness. Five employers who hired KVTC graduates rated the programme at 74% overall satisfaction, with quality of work rated 87%. Supervisors noted graduates needed minimal supervision and brought strong safety discipline from day one of on-site work.
159 company visits. 9 industry partnerships. 20 confirmed job placements. The Career Services Centre forged formal agreements, MOUs and expressions of interest, with industry players. 40 job leads were posted. 33 graduates participated in interviews. 20 confirmed employment across mining, construction, and agriculture sectors, with 36% of traced graduates employed six months after graduation.
458 bursaries awarded, the largest single-cycle allocation. MoTS and TEVETA awarded 458 bursaries for the 2026 academic year, allocated across all three programmes. 124 students were enrolled in the first Q1 batch, including 80 on TEVET bursaries, 20 through CDF, and 24 self-sponsored. The funding pipeline is deepening.
On 25 March 2026, representatives from the Embassy of Japan, Zambia's Ministry of Technology and Science, TEVETA, Hitachi Construction Machinery, UNIDO, and industry partners gathered at KVTC for the formal handover of the new Heavy Equipment Operator Workshop. The facility, featuring two fully equipped classrooms, and three operational parking bays, was handed over to KVTC. What was once a basic yard is now a nationally recognised workshop.
The new facility has strengthened KVTC's training infrastructure and enhanced its capacity to deliver industry-aligned HEO training, increasing the expected annual output from 125 to approximately 300 trainees.
Relive the official handover and inauguration of the KVTC Heavy Equipment Operator Workshop.
Cumulative Graduates
by March 2026Employed (6 months post)
tracked graduatesBursaries Awarded
2026 academic yearToT Graduates
Industry Partners
Employer Satisfaction (%)
Real lives transformed through skills, opportunity, and determination
Nancy Chanda
"I had nothing. I was nothing. But now I'm earning, supporting my family, and living the life I once dreamed of."
She came to KVTC without a job. She left with a certification, and a profession. Nancy is now an excavator operator at Jewel of Africa Mining Company.
Christine Kalizya
"The skills I gained at Kitwe Vocational Training Centre (KVTC) did not just give me a job; they gave me a future. I can now support my family and stand on my own feet. I refused to let my story end in my village."
Christine is now a heavy equipment operator at Zambeef Chiawa Farms.
A powerful coalition driving excellence in skills development
In collaboration with TEVETA, Ministry of Technology & Science, and industry leaders.
Partner with KVTC to shape the next generation of heavy equipment operators. Explore training, sponsorships, or recruitment pathways.