Friday, March 29, 2024

ZACL to spend USD 120 million to upgrade Mfuwe airport

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Zambia Airport Corporation Limited (ZACL) intends to spend USD120 million to develop Mfuwe international airport in Mambwe district of Eastern Province.

ZACL Director Agness Chaila said the corporation intends to build a
600,000 passenger terminal building, new air traffic control towers, a
hotel, shopping mall, cargo facilities and a rescue fire station among
others.

Making a presentation at the ongoing Eastern Province symposium on
development in Chipata district this morning, Ms Chaila said her
organization is currently negotiating with potential developers to
upgrade the only international airport in the province.

She explained that ZACL plans to complete the project
by 2019.

Ms. Chaila also stressed the need to increase bed space in lodges in Mfuwe
saying the airport has a capacity to handle a 373 airplanes but currently has inadequate accommodation.

She also noted that currently Zambia is recording low domestic
travel adding that the corporation has been recording a reduction from
28,000 to 25,000 currently on domestic travel per annum.

She noted that the corporation will also engage the Zambia Development
Agency (ZDA) to reduce the costing of doing business around airport
areas by establishing tax free zones as a way of attracting more
investments.

And a Zimbabwean firm has expressed interest to invest in Zambia’s
aviation sector.

NOCART Marketing Director Manasa Tsvangirai disclosed that his
organization will in the next four days present a comprehensive
document to ZACL to state which areas they can invest in or projects
that they can fund.

The organization is currently funding various projects in six African
countries and nine European countries.

13 COMMENTS

  1. They should make more space in the beds anyway, and also find a well that produces unlimited amounts of aviation fuel somewhere near the airport. And state “the need” of the infrastructure to support expanded tourism, and the additional animals and roads to fulfil tourism needs. With just few prayer meetings this should be no problem

  2. the figures are very loud yet the work doesnt even speak gibberish,120,000,000usd is a lot of money to see major changes

  3. Poor planning and thinking, you cannot have international gateways everywhere. This is wasting resources.. In ndola they plan to spend 400 Million USD on a new airport, over 300 Million USD for Lusaka, they just spent over 90 million in Livingstone and you want to introduce another 120 million USD to the conversation. smh
    We should have just worked on Lusaka and minor upgrades in other towns so that Lusaka becomes the hub of Zambia. With this level of thinking, one of these structures will become a white elephant.

  4. They talk about an international airport and before it is even done they are talking Mfuwe! Just a bunch of lunatics. They are thinking of a project when they have failed to bring in tourists and depending on another country to market their country. Only a fo-ol would ask another country to do that. That country is interested in marketing their own destination so why would they market you before them? Money Zambia could have paid UNZA students to market Zambia and create jobs yet they are creating jobs for Spain. Only a very daft minister can come up with a strategy like this one. They are now begging for donations from donors too!

  5. All they know & talk about is projects for more corrupt money in their pockets. No ideas on how to self-raise funds for those projects, but looking for other countries to do job for them. Can onother country serve your interest especially your neighbour Zimbabwe to invest money in your country for nothing? PF can’t realise that the investors they invite also just borrow from banks in their countries & aim at withdrawing 400% in a day of the funds they invested leaving Zambia broke. They can also lend their serious citizens money to undertake these projects. We have been advising them to improve the exchange rate & interest rates but they don’t want in order to continue with their corruption with foreign infestors.

  6. 600000 passenger terminal……is that all at once, per day per week per month per year. We always talk big figures but with little relevance… Public SENSITIZATION.. We see big headline big numbers and go WOW look at us competing with the big boys…..but we aren’t

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