On the 18th of September 2026, the University of Zambia’s School of Engineering became the setting for more than a ceremonial turning of soil. The BORDA Sanitation Hub broke ground.
It was a day of anticipation, pride and possibility as representatives from the University of Zambia, BORDA Zambia, Sieben Investments Limited, students, members of the community and other invited guests gathered to mark the beginning of construction of a new Sanitation Hub.
This Sanitation Hub is part of BORDA Zambia’s Africa Regional Project, “Improving Sanitation, Shaping Liveable and Inclusive Cities.” It is planned as a Centre of Excellence for decentralised sanitation. Most people picture sanitation as a network of pipes carrying waste to one large treatment plant but decentralised sanitation treats waste closer to where it is produced, using systems matched to the community, school or institution that needs them. In a growing city, in Lusaka, where extending a large network to every neighbourhood is not always possible, that approach deserves serious attention. It also needs people who can research it, test it, measure it and teach it.
For Sieben Investments Limited, the day carried a particular sense of pride. Every one of our company’s directors got their first Engineering Degree from the University of Zambia, and coming back to build something this ambitious, with partners who share the vision, means a great deal.
But the significance of the day extended far beyond the contractor.
More than a building
The Vice Chancellor of the University of Zambia reflected on the presence of the development partners, the contractor and university representatives at the ceremony, recognising the significance of what their gathering represented.
“Your presence here is a demonstration of our shared commitment to finding practical and sustainable solutions to sanitation challenges facing our country,” he said.
He also placed the Sanitation Hub within the wider context of what is happening in Zambia’s sanitation sector, noting that its establishment comes at a time when there is growing attention on sanitation infrastructure. For the University of Zambia, he said, the Hub presents an opportunity to strengthen the institution’s contribution to addressing real challenges facing communities and the nation.
But there was another detail that stood out during the ceremony.
The changing face of engineering.
Something is shifting
The Vice Chancellor took note of the number of women among the technical teams present at the ceremony, including representatives from Sieben and BORDA Zambia. His observation spoke to a broader shift within a profession that has traditionally been perceived as male-dominated, the growing visibility and participation of women in engineering and construction.
For Sieben, the moment felt particularly familiar.
This year, the company has intentionally highlighted this changing landscape within engineering, including its participation in the Women in Construction Conference earlier in the year with our chief executive officer, Mr Bornwell Siakanomba, being invited as a speaker.
Being at UNZA, surrounded once again by women contributing to a major infrastructure project, brought that conversation back into focus.
It was a small moment during a much larger ceremony, but one that reflected something important: infrastructure is not only about the structures being built. It is also about the people building them, the opportunities being created, and the different voices shaping the future of the profession.
Where engineering meets purpose
The BORDA Country Director described the vision clearly: the Hub should bring together research, experimentation and learning around decentralised sanitation systems, creating an environment where ideas can be tested and turned into solutions that respond to the realities of sanitation in Zambia.
Importantly, the Hub is not intended to serve researchers alone. It is also meant to become a space for students to engage with these challenges firsthand to ask questions, experiment, contribute to knowledge and develop a deeper understanding of what sustainable sanitation can look like in the Zambian context.
For Sieben, being part of that process means contributing to something that extends beyond the construction itself. The company is not simply delivering a building; it is helping create the physical space in which future research, learning and innovation can take place.
The work ahead will involve concrete, steel, materials, coordination and construction but the purpose behind it is much bigger.
The soil may have been turned on 18 September, but the real work is only beginning.
Building for a future beyond the project
Sanitation is often discussed in terms of infrastructure: pipes, treatment systems, facilities and services. But the Sanitation Hub presents an opportunity to look at sanitation differently, as an area of research, innovation, education and problem-solving. The project is intended to support the generation and dissemination of knowledge around decentralised sanitation while helping strengthen institutional and technical capacity in the sector.
That makes its location within a university particularly significant.
Students will have the opportunity to encounter sanitation technologies not simply as concepts in lectures or drawings, but within a facility designed to demonstrate how such systems can work.
Researchers will have a space to investigate and evaluate approaches.
Sector stakeholders can use the facility as a platform for learning and knowledge-sharing.
And, ultimately, the wider community stands to benefit from the knowledge generated through these efforts.
The first step
After the speeches, the cultural performance and the formal proceedings, representatives stepped forward to turn the soil.
It was a simple action, but one carrying considerable symbolism.
For those gathered, it represented the beginning of construction. For the students watching, it offered a glimpse of a facility that will eventually become part of their university environment. For BORDA and UNZA, it marked another step towards creating a platform for research and innovation in sanitation. And for Sieben, it marked the moment when the responsibility of turning the vision into a physical reality truly began.
There is still a long way to go. But with the first soil turned and the vision now taking physical form, something important has begun.
And perhaps that is what made the day worth celebrating: not simply what will be built, but what it could make possible.
