Zambia has signed two loan agreements, worth $243 million, with the Africa Development Bank (ADB) for rehabilitation of the Chinsali-Nakonde Road.
This came to light at the Signing Ceremony held at the Ministry of Finance Headquarters in Lusaka.
Of the $243 million Loan , $193 million is from the ADB while $50 million is from the Africa Growing Together Fund, a trust fund by the CHINESE Government to support Africa’s economic transformation.
The Africa Growing Together Trust Fund is managed by the Development Bank of Zambia-DBZ.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda signed the Loan on behalf of the Zambian Government.
Mr Chikwanda said the loan is repayable within the period of 20 years and attached with one percent interest.
He said the two hundred and 10 kilometre stretch of the Chinsali-Nakonde Road is an important project as it is part of the Great North Road-a gate to the Far -East where Zambia ferries it copper to CHINA for export.
Mr Chikwanda said the PF government is committed to rolling out infrastructure development to accelerate economic development.
At the same function ADB Resident Representative Damoni Kitabire said his bank has focused on the development of key roads linking the countries with its neighbours.
Mr Katabire cited that DBZ has provided funds for the Nacala Corridor Project, which originates from Port Nacala in Mozambique to Lusaka-Zamba.
He said his bank has financed Feasibility Studies for the rehabilitation of Mpulungu Port to improve communication services on Lake Tanganyika, between Zambia and Burundi.
i thought that stretch was included in the link zambia funds.
that euro bond……..
anyway…..
Not even one metre of kasama isoka road has been tarred since the demise of our sata. The villagers there are very angry
Mbesuma
How many roads have you heard being built in North Western Province where the money is being made?What comes from Kasama or Isoka? Catterpilars[or ifishimu]?I am Bemba but I think I understand why Sata was hated by other tribes.Why not concentrate on building roads in areas where the returns will be felt soon like Mkushi farming block,Southern province North Western province etc.
@ 1.2 Mailoni goods come into Zambia through Great North road. I travelled from Chinsali to Nakonde in 2014 and the road was a death trap due to potholes. By the way why are you mentioning Sata in this? Has he come from the dead to sign the loan?
Kambwili and Steve Chungu will build more houses in Luanshya!
Bafiicolour aba, who is going to stop them from borrowing kanshi? (sorry folks for the bad language, am right now boiling to the core with the poor finishers actions) Shikulu wakalupala, Chikwala that is all is best at, borrowing and chekelako!! This money they are borrowing pretending its money for roads, after Aug, once they lose, you will discover there is no money meant for roads left, all will be chewed during campaigns-bambopwee!!
The time you hear about Chikwanda is when he signing loans. This is campaign money we know that.
“Another one! ” *DJ Khaled voice*. No plan b, this all they know. Borrowing, borrowing, borrowing until our date equates to that of USA.
A.B gets 1% which equates to $2.43 million.This fossil has become stinking rich by signing loans which our children will struggle to repay.A.B then will be chilling at memorial park with no worries.
guys im seriously worried about these loans how are we going to repay them….our finance minster is reckless and so are his superiors
He is not reckless he is an Zambian undertaker.
$243m/210km=$1.158m/km & we are talking of rehabilitation & not reconstruction. A properly constructed road has a life span of 20 years. That’s the loan repayment period. Senile Squander will be 98 years old then.
Question is: why are these guys doing this to this country.
@itizi turu,that is the main worry! Why is road construction and mere rehabilitation so expensive in Zambia? I do recall an Egyptian Company,Flame Engineering during Mwanawasa time critising the pricing and tendering process in road construction citing it as being too expensive. What worries even most is that no Auditor General’s report has ever reported a discrepancy in the pricing of Zambian road construction contracts in comparison with countries! Some where some how things do not look straight because spending over US$1million/Km to redo a road sounds abnormal – as if constructing a brand new road in bad terrain like sandy-swampy area! We need to investigate this as a country!!
The World bank after conducting a study in 40 countries averaged the cost of rehabilitating a road to be 214,000$ per km. So where is the other money going?
Fossil Chikwanda doing what he does best. ..signing on the dotted line!!
@zambia is ours RDA & NRFA are a cartel. They have fixed procurement in the road sector. Its not normal that the pricing @ $1.2m/km is across the country in whatever terrain. They have factored in a constant that is passed on to them (of course in collusion with GRZ, the reason why MCS took it to state house). Ever wondered why its the same companies (whether local or chinese) that get these jobs. Why is it that RDA has had 7 CEOs in a space of 9 years. Its the most sought after CEO position in the quasi-GRZ.
There is no implementation of value engineering in these projects or even rewarding and selecting contractors that are using innovative technology to reduce costs without compromising quality and safety.
$1.2 million dollars per kilometre? aikona man!