Transaid celebrates 20 years of partnership with Zambia’s Industrial Training Centre

22nd October 2026

• Transaid Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, attended the charity’s annual Showcase in London, to mark a two-decade partnership with the Industrial Training Centre (ITC).
• ITC Executive Director Lloyd Mbasela travelled to London to reflect on the partnership’s achievements and outline future ambitions.
• The showcase also highlighted Transaid’s latest road safety and access to healthcare programmes across sub-Saharan Africa.

Transaid Patron, Her Royal Highness The Princess Royal, together with more than 100 transport, logistics and international development industry representatives gathered in London on Tuesday as Transaid celebrated 20 years of partnership with Zambia’s Industrial Training Centre (ITC) at its annual Showcase event.

Over the past two decades, the partnership has strengthened professional driver training in Zambia through the sharing of skills, knowledge and technical expertise, alongside industry donations of vehicles and equipment.

Transaid and the ITC

Guests heard from Lloyd Mbasela, Executive Director of ITC, who reflected on the Centre’s development and its ambition to play an increasingly important role in professional driver training across Zambia and the wider Southern African region.

Mbasela said: “Our partnership with Transaid has always been about more than receiving support. It is a relationship built on shared objectives, knowledge exchange and a common commitment to sustainable development.

“By building the capacity of our instructors, training programmes and the institution, the benefits can be passed on to successive generations of professional drivers. Together, we are working towards a transport workforce that is safer, more skilled and better equipped to support economic development – and we look forward to continuing this journey with Transaid and its partners.”

Caroline Barber, Chief Executive of Transaid, thanked Mbasela and his team for their leadership and dedication in developing ITC into the institution it is today.

She said: “Reaching this 20-year milestone demonstrates what can be achieved through sustained collaboration. Lloyd and his talented team have shown exceptional commitment to developing ITC, drawing on their own experience and expertise alongside that of Transaid and our industry partners to continually strengthen professional driver training.

“This is a collective achievement, and many of those who have played an important part in the partnership are with us at our Showcase today. Their efforts have helped create stronger training systems which can continue delivering benefits long into the future.”

 

Life-saving programmes across sub-Saharan Africa

The event also provided an opportunity to reflect on Transaid’s wider road-safety and access to healthcare programmes. These include the Safe African Helmets Initiative, two-wheeler safety work in Kenya and Ghana, the Driving Safety Across Ghana project and the charity’s continued work through the MAMaZ Against Malaria programme.

Barber added: “This is an uncertain time for the international development community, making the commitment of our corporate partners and supporters more important than ever. Long-term partnerships built on mutual trust, shared expertise and local leadership are how we can deliver sustainable results.”

Maria Torrent-March, Managing Director, Warehousing & Logistics, Europe at Iron Mountain, was invited to share her experiences from this year’s corporate supporters visit to Zambia, and speak about the wider partnership between Iron Mountain and Transaid.

Award recognises outstanding contribution to Transaid

Transaid also used the occasion to announce this year’s winner of the Victor Simfukwe Award, which honours a former Transaid colleague who passed away in 2019 following a road traffic crash in Zambia. This year’s award was presented to Frank Agyei-Monney, Driver Trainer and road safety advocate for his passionate advocacy for road safety in Ghana. Duncan Baldock, Head of Procurement – Logistics, Engineering and Gist at Marks and Spencer and Neil Vorleto, Driver Trainer jointly received highly commended awards. Duncan for his exceptional contributions as a Transaid ambassador and Neil for his enthusiastic support and championing of Ghana’s new professional driver training standard. Read more about the Award here.

The event was held at the regional headquarters of Sidara in London, backed by generous sponsorship from Brigade Electronics, BIFA (British International Freight Association), Impress Communications, The Malcolm Group, Michelin, Sidara and Woodland Group.