Cabinet has approved the acquisition of a US$65.5 million loan from the Export-Import Bank of China .
The loan will support financing of the Zambia National Information and Communication Technology Development Project.
Chief Government Spokesperson Chishimba Kambwili announced the development in a statement issued to ZANIS in Lusaka yesterday on the decisions made Cabinet at its 4th Special meeting held at State House.
Mr Kambwili who is also Minister of Information and Broadcasting Services said the project is an important initiative to implement and enhance the development of the country’s ICT industry.
The Minister said the project will involve the construction of a national data center and first class schools to improve ICT education in the country.
And in another development, Secretary to Cabinet Roland Msiska has announced that President Edgar Lungu has declared Monday, March 30, 2015 as a day of national mourning for the late Road Development Agency (RDA) Board Chairperson Willie Nsanda.
Dr Msiska said the one day of national mourning will be observed on the day Mr Nsanda will be put to rest and that all functions of entertainment nature should be cancelled or postponed.
He said that during the national mourning period which shall run from 06.00 hours to 18.00 hours, all flags will fly at half-mast and only solemn music shall be played.
Mr Nsanda who passed away on Tuesday, 24th March at Millpark Hospital in Johannesburg South Africa, served as deputy Minister in the MMD government.
His remains will be brought back from South Africa on Sunday March 29, and arrive at Simon Mwansa Kapwepwe International Airport in Ndola before being transported to Kitwe by road .
The funeral will be held at his residence in Garnerton.
On the ICT Project, we could have raised this money locally, are we to borrow for every small project this country initiates?
On the National Morning, at least it is not a holiday and we hope God hears us when we say MHSRIP, we can’t intercede for him now beyond that. It is now between him and his God to account for his earthly life.
It’s borrowing, borrowing and borrowing. When the owners of the money start asking for payment, you say “we’re disappointed, Zambia is not the only country that owes money.” Please don’t mortgage our country just because you’re in the evening of your lives. It’s us and our children who will suffer in your suffocating debt and yet you are not creating any jobs or improving a better environment for businesses to thrive.
That is true, we could have raised this money. Don’t we have pastors who can offer sound advise to our politicians, really?
Proverbs 22:7 King James Version (KJV)
The rich ruleth over the poor, and the borrower is servant to the lender.
PF is a borrowing govt, there is nothing more to than than borrowing in the morning, midday and evening. What a shame. PF should change its name to Borrowing Party (BP).
If Chimbwili will be responsible for the disbursement of this loan, consider it stolen even before the cheques are written. This is more debt whose benefits nobody will be able to quantify.
US$65 million loan for ICT development? In this case, the end does not justify the means. However, now that it appears a done deal, utilise it accordingly as it is another luggage you have placed on Zambians’ shoulders and their future generations.
The govt must also start considering sponsoring graduates for further studies such as Phd who will in turn work for these institutions, otherwise we will have low caliber people running these institution or they will end up with political cadres as usual. If they can borrow to build infrastructure then they must borrow to educate the people too. We have a low number of doctors and professors in the country and yet we have all these planned institutions yet there is nobody trained to work there. Are we going to borrow researchers from abroad to come work too and pay them huge salaries at the expense of our own people?
Have we missed the fact that the loan is from our Chinese Friends whom His Excellency is visiting right now? I mean already we are half way to implementing that E-Voting System we want. Did we not say we need to build up our IT infrastructure?
Well then, all is……well. Opposition says we are broke and looking to starvation due to poor rains….how then can we generate funds for this development by ourselves right now? The same Opposition clapped their hands when Mines TXes were set aside….where do we get the Revenue?
Yeah, Yeah I hate these Loans too but we seem to be between a Rock and a Hard Place.