What the client needed
The Kitwe Vocational Training Centre (KVTC) Heavy Equipment Operation project, a partnership between the Government of Zambia, the Embassy of Japan, Hitachi Construction Machinery and UNIDO, trains young people, especially women and disadvantaged students, as excavator, dump truck and front-end loader operators for the construction and mining sectors.
With the project entering its final year and KVTC seeking recognition as a regional Centre of Excellence, UNIDO needed to know whether the training could pay its way and how to sustain it beyond October 2026.
How M31 Research delivered
M31 Research is delivering two work packages. The first is a market and sustainability analysis using an adapted 5C framework, market structure analysis, institutional diagnostics and benchmarking, with stakeholder interviews in Kitwe, Lusaka and the Copperbelt and North-Western provinces. Activity-based costing, scenario analysis and equipment depreciation modelling test financial viability.
The second builds on these findings through a participatory process to produce a costed business plan, including the business model, market segmentation, financial and operational model, and a sustainability and scale-up roadmap.
What we delivered
- Inception report and analytical framework
- Benchmarking of heavy equipment training provision
- Stakeholder interviews across four locations
- Activity-based costing and scenario analysis
- Market and sustainability analysis report
- Costed business plan with scale-up roadmap
- Presentation to UNIDO, KVTC and partners
What changed for the client
The work will give KVTC and its partners a clear view of the centre's market position, costs and financial viability, along with a costed business plan and roadmap for cost recovery and continuity after the project closes, supporting its path to becoming a regional Centre of Excellence.
