Capacity building of construction industries in Sub‐Saharan developing countries

Abstract

PurposeThe need for capacity building of construction industries in developing countries cannot be over‐emphasised in order to ensure quality of services and products as well as the application of innovative ways for delivering construction services. Accordingly, using systems institutional paradigm approach as a conceptual premise, this paper aims to make the case for a fundamental turnaround for construction developmental approach in developing countries, that identify levels which should be considered as instrumental for capacity building of the construction industry in the Sub‐Saharan region, for example Malawi.Design/methodology/approachTo ascertain a quad‐level framework which should be considered essential for capacity building of the construction industry, a questionnaire survey was employed. Data were elicited from prominent heads of sections from five stakeholders of the construction industry that operated in Malawi on the constructs for capacity building of a construction industry. Sixty completed questionnaires were received with a response rate of 90 per cent to the designed sample size.FindingsThe quad‐level framework for capacity development of a construction industry for developing countries was validated by an overall level of 77 per cent of agreement from key and prominent heads of sections of the five stakeholders of the construction industry. The rankings of the variables for capacity building for each level of the framework have provided the key foci and orientations of the industry for one of the Southern African countries of the Sub‐Saharan region.Research limitations/implicationsThe study forms the basis for further research; future research could be directed towards other developing countries to further enrich the industry on the dynamics of capacity building of construction industries in developing countries.Originality/valueThis paper is the first to critically examine the antecedents and invoke a quad‐level framework for capacity development of construction industries.