THE Zambia Institute of Chartered Accountants (ZICA) has made a lot of progress on the construction of a state-of-the-art Convention Centre in Livingstone at a cost of about US$ 300 million.

ZICA president Wesley Beene said the project, whose ground breaking ceremony and laying of the foundation stone took place in Zambia’s Tourist Capital last year, was on course.

He was speaking in Livingstone on Friday night at Avani Victoria Falls Hotel during the 2015 gala dinner organised by ZICA, Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA) and Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA).

This was at the end of a three-day 2015 joint annual business conference which was held under the theme Zambia’s development Agenda: the future role of the accountancy.

“A lot of ground work has been done on the construction of our Shungu Namutitima conference centre in Livingstone.

“It is in this regard that ZICA might request members of the Institute to make financial contributions next year to go towards the construction of the Centre. The construction would be factored into the subscription fees,” Mr Beene said.

ZICA acquired 48 hectares of land on the boundary of Musi-oa-tunya National Park to set up a Convention Centre which would have capacity to accommodate more than 2, 000 delegates.

The Institute also has plans to construct a five start hotel, a mini conference, an observation wheel and a park within the same land acquired.

In 2013 during the 20th session of the United Nations World Tourism Organisation (UNWTO) General Assembly in Livingstone, the gathering was held in a marquee due to the absence of large conference facilities or a convention centre in the tourist capital.

And Mr Beene has challenged accountants in Zambia to consider taking up leadership in the public office.

“Many are times that we, accountants, complain that things are not going well when we are just in the wings watching.

“We will not change anything by complaining, but by being the catalysts to the change that we want to see. Let’s get our country working efficiently by participating in all processes, including governance,” Mr Beene said.

This article was originally published in Lusaka Times