Friday, March 29, 2024

Zambia awards 17 year concession to Austrian firm to manage its road traffic system

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Kapsch TrafficCom
Kapsch TrafficCom

The Zambian government has awarded Austria based Kapsch TrafficCom a 17-year national concession for the design, installation and operation of systems and solutions for traffic surveillance, vehicle speed enforcement, vehicle inspection and vehicle registration.

This is a joint venture with Zambia’s Lamise Trading Limited.

In a press release, Kapsch TrafficCom announced that it had been awarded the nationwide contract as a joint 50-50 venture with Zambian Lamise Trading Limited.

No financial details have been disclosed.

Kapsch stated that the system would be for traffic surveillance, vehicle speed enforcement, vehicle inspection and vehicle registration and it would generate between EUR 90 million and EUR 100 million in the first three years of operation.

“Kapsch TrafficCom’s joint venture with Zambian Lamise Trading Limited has been awarded a nation-wide concession contract by the Zambian government for the design, installation and operation of systems and solutions for traffic surveillance, vehicle speed enforcement, vehicle inspection and vehicle registration,” it said.

“This scope of service will be realized step by step during a ramp-up phase as part of a 17-year contract.”

“The number of vehicles on Zambia’s roads increased by 280 per cent to 700,000 in the ten years to 2016 and road fatalities increased from 10 per hundred thousand inhabitants to 13.8 per hundred thousand in the same period. In 2016 alone, 2,206 people died in traffic related accidents.”

“Therefore, it is the aim of the Zambian Government, through its agency the Road Traffic and Safety Agency to significantly increase road safety and traffic management,” read the statement.

Kapsch TrafficCom chief operating officer André Laux said the company felt honored to be entrusted with a task to improve traffic safety in Zambia together with Lamise.

“By installing and operating Kapsch TrafficCom’s leading edge equipment and systems, the joint venture will create some five hundred jobs, provide a boost to the economy in Zambia through improved road transport, and reduce the number of traffic accidents and their impact,” said Lamise Trading Chairman Walid El Nahas.

Kapsch TrafficCom is a provider of intelligent transportation systems in the fields of tolling, traffic management, smart urban mobility, traffic safety and security, and connected vehicles.

Kapsch said that it had successfully installed intelligent transportation systems in more than 50 countries around the world.

65 COMMENTS

  1. These Lebanese are really milking this country, they are not hardworking as people might think, what’s the secret?

    • Lamise is a manufacturer of household plastic wares, foam products and retailer of carpets, since when did they go into traffic management?.

      Just what the heck is the PF government upto? this is like a fire tender deal where Grandview, a new company which had never supplied motor vehicles, not even a corolla, was given a tender to supply fire engines.

    • Now just a week or so ago,there was a young man from unza who had some pretty interesting ways to improve road safety using traffic lights.everyone here hailed the boy as being a genius and that the govt needs to support his ideas.well there you are.these people i bet wont even employ that boy should he go looking for a job there.Mark my words.
      This is why i say,africans get a miseducation and not an education because there is nothing that we think of that we ourselves utilise.we would rather import ideas,experts,well just about everything.And you think we can develop.The supervisors of tht unza student should have taught him how to write project proposals also and not just application letters as we have all been brainwashed to do through the current education system.”Look for JOB,NOT…

    • ……NOT self employment”(in our robot voice). Yet ba Lamise,who are just specialists in buying and reselling plastic related hardware are getting these high tech govt contracts.question is why?well,they understand something that we dont.why we scamper around looking for titles that will make us feel better about ourselves as Drs,Engineers etc because we feel we need to prove to somebody out there that we are important,we miss the true goal of education.But what has caused this need to prove ourselves before others instead of doing what is right for us?well,when you have been taught all your life that you and your people have never contributed anything to civilization,subconsciously it creates a hunger to attain the goals and statuses of those same people that despised you,even if the…

    • To date, all the implementations done by Kapsch TrafficCom are related to multi-lane free-?ow electronic toll collection system for trucks. The scope outlined here for Zambia to implement traffic surveillance, vehicle speed enforcement, vehicle inspection and vehicle registration means that this will be completely new technology nowhere implemented by Kapsch TrafficCom and Zambia will be the first country. Note that they will design, install and operate the systems. The keyword being “design”, which affirms my statement above. Whether this is good or bad is yet to be seen, BUT it makes me doubt the proposed 90 million – EUR 100 million in the first year, my question is first 3years from when of those 17 years contract?. Kapsch TrafficCom is also well known for its large “BROWN…

    • CONT`D
      Kapsch TrafficCom is also well known for its large “BROWN ENVELOPES”, therefore to get 17years contract was not for free. Someone must be smiling.

    • even if the achieved goals do nothing for your people. Education is the knowledge of self and ones environment.true education teaches one who they are and how they are aggregated in the environment,therefore they seek to improve the wellbeing of both themselves and the environment in which they find themselves. But for the african,education is the despising of oneself and his culture and the quest to acquire that which is foreign to him.thats why if you articulate better in english than nyanjs ninshi walisambilila.if you have a european based education,ninshi walisambilila ukuchila those with a local one.thats why Lamise and kapsch know much better about our traffic than our local unza boy and many others who have offered cheaper solutions to traffic safety in zambia.check dspace unza.

    • GOVT ALLOCATES K6.6 BILLION FOR ROADS IN 2016
      The implementation of various road projects that include the Link Zambia 8000 Project,
      Government has allocated K6.6 billion to the road sector for the year 2016 for the implementation of various road projects that include the Link Zambia 8000 Project, Pave Zambia 2000 and the L400 in Lusaka among others, Minister of Finance Alexander Chikwanda has announced.
      Presenting the 2016 budget to the nation in Parliament a week ago, Hon. Chikwanda said Government remained committed to transforming Zambia into a truly land-linked country adding that the commitment was being demonstrated through the implementation of various road infrastructure programs across the country.
      He said Government remained fully committed to supporting the expansion and…

    • Between Lamise and RTSA who is technically equipped to deal with road safety issues, I am lost? Somebody help me I feel like a mechanic has been sidelined for a tailor. What is the problem with RTSA?

  2. Before the dust has even settled on the Firefighters deal, here comes another questionable arrangement without any financial details. Are there seriously no Zambian based road construction firms that are competent enough to do this job?

    • Traffic management does have a lot to do with road construction, my dear, and that is why I chose that verbatim. PS if one wants to increase road safety and traffic management in general, why would they not start by constructing better roads and regulating the number of vehicles on the road first?

      Hoping that a traffic management firm will get rid of traffic congestion without providing the infrastructural outlay for them to do so is like expecting the sun to keep you warm on a cold day so you step out without your shirt. Pretty ridiculous, don’t you think?

    • Knowing Kapsch TrafficCom, I tell you this is high profile, and you will never find out. Just those 17years tells it all. You will have 7 years of development and implementation of the system because Kapsch TrafficCom has never implemented such a system anywhere. Then 10years to run and service that system. Expect those revenues to start flowing in until 10years from now.

    • You will also be paying lamise ,who inturn will be paying lungu for pleasure of driving ontop of all your other taxes you pay now to drive.

  3. We are BACK TO RUPHIA BANDA DAYS where BORDER POSTS were CONCESSIONED for for 25 years WITHOUT ANY EXPLANATION to the public on how they arrived at decision like that. EVERY GOVERNMENT INSTITUTION THAT WAS CAPABLE OF GENERATING REVENUE WAS BEING SADDLED WITH A PRIVATE CONTRACTOR TO MILK RESOURCES. Now this LUNGU and his RUPHIA BANDA boys MUST BE STOPPED OTHER WISE WE ARE DEAD! Zambia does NOT NEED this complicated, in fact FACTITIOUS traffic control system. We need proper designed roads only and an efficient Police and RTSA!!

  4. You will still have roadblocks….and toll gates only there will be extra taxes to be paid to lamise to maintain databases of car registrations and car road worthyness , you will have to pay lamise to get you car checked by a lamise approved garage, you will then have to pay lamise to add your car to that database. And those garages will have to pay lamise to get approval certification.

    This is a big money spinner for lamise, everyone with a car in Zambia will have to pay lamise every year.

    Why GRZ just did not partner with that Austrian company, we can only speculate.

    • spaka like lilo if you as an ordinary person can analysis issues in this manner, then what is the point of employing these thieves who are just milking the system. Zambia has along way to before it develops.

    • And don’t forget if you are issued with road fine you will have to pay lamise, and to get a driver lisence you will have to pay lamise.

      Why RATSA could not do this is questionable, only explanation is lamise payed lungu to get in on the mix…..

    • @spaka like lilo, I bet this so unique that it has yet sunk into the heads of these people here.
      It will take years before they wake up.
      And you know what, once that Kapsch TrafficCom system is in place it will be there for years beyond the 17 years. This is great “money spinner”, it’s those two countries who will benefit much. I tell you from 5 years from now, once people open up they will start seeing this, but it will be too late. It is not easy to get Kapsch TrafficCom out.
      GRZ seems to be comfortable with the 90-100mil Euro, but this will be in many years from now.

    • This is how Mr lungu and PF are to blame for people calling them corrupt……this life changing decision should have been consulted as widely as possible with GRZ explaining why it was necessary to bring in lamise instead of revamping RSTA….they should let us know how much more taxes we will have to pay ……

    • This smells like a deal initiated in a pub, after one too many bottles. Can somebody from RTSA give use your views, this is your country being robbed in daylight. You tell me with the right investment and training you can’t do the job?

  5. Comment:

    Pretty soon Kambwili, et al will cry corruption. No development programmes will be undertaken in Zambia as all such efforts are corruption-driven, according to that clique.

    • Chitutuma

      The problem is PF is feeding people’s imagination into this corruption frenzy speculation by not coming out to clear those allegations…

    • SIMPLE BE TRANSPARENT AND ACCOUNTABLE, EVEN YOUR MOTHER WOULD REQUEST YOU TO DO SO IF YOU WERE RUNNING HER BUSINESS. INNOCENT PEOPLE ARE DYING IN UTH DUE TO LACK OF MEDICINE. STUDENTS CAN’T GET LOANS. LASTLY HOW MUCH OF THAT MONEY WILL REMAIN OR REINVESTED IN ZAMBIA?

  6. Let us not be fixated by the nationalities of the people behind Lamise and Kapsch. Rather let us focus on the positive output that may emanate from this arrangement and of course the track record of the tenderers. Who is Lamise and who is Kapsch? What are their track records? When I did my Google search on Lamise, I discovered that they are not only traders in plastic cups, as some cynically believe, but are a diversified operation who in 2014 even won a tender to install solar traffic lights with the Harare City Council in Zimbabwe.

  7. As for Kapsch, one only needs to go to their website to see what they are capable of. My own understanding is that Kapsch’s involvement in this venture is in line with the plan to decongest Lusaka and other large cities which Minister of Finance referred to in his budget speech. If a Zambian company can do what Kapsch can do, I will definitely go for the Zambian company. But let’s not fall prey to the xenophobic and jingoistic tendency of labelling every engagement of foreign expertise in our projects as negative and thus unwelcome.

  8. So what is the way forward? Instead of trashing the whole project even before it takes off, let us look on the brighter side and not only in terms of loss of our money and unsubstantiated allegations of corruption, but also in terms of possibilities for transfer of skills, technology, and knowledge. It surely can’t be all doom and gloom in every project! “. As Deng the Chinese reformist leader and second in command Mao Tse-tung once responded to those who accused the Chinese Communist Party of taking a capitalist path: “I don’t care if a cat is white or black as long as it can catch mice”. If this arrangement will ultimately be beneficial to this country what really is the big deal?

  9. Unprecedented development unfolding pa Zed! Thank God the Government is not allowing enemies of progress to unjustifiably distract them. As a taxpayer I can hardly wait to enjoy my drives from Lusaks to Chingola on a dual carriage way!

  10. What are the terms of this contract and how will they evaluate performance success measures or parameters? Reduced accidents? 1000 cameras installed within a given period of time? Who will monitor and enforce law breakers? Will they collect fines on the spot or they will send tax invoices to people with fixed abodes? The rental market is uncontrolled and many people have no fixed abode. What about the corrupt c0ps will support to check drivers and the road worthiness of their cars?

    They probably did this in a hurry as an impulsive reactionary to the latest accidents. Did they even go to tender? Why didn’t the RTSA dither directly engage with this company or ‘p@rtner’ with them or do they want local company partnership? How did this ‘joint venture’ or partnership come about, did…

    • continued…
      How did this ‘joint venture’ or partnership come about, did this Kapsch TrafficC@m submit their bid joinly with L@mise or the govt chose the ‘p@rtnership’? So many questions.

      I submit that installing cameras alone and registering vehicles alone won’t solve Zambia’s accident problems. A complete overhaul, including a change in culture and stopping a culture of br!bery and corrupt!on is what is required.

    • There will be no cameras, the only cameras of sorts will be probably handheld for the police at road blocks to vetify you have paid fitness, insurence and road tax and to log speeding drivers…belive me, this is mostly a large data base of all cars on Zambians roads to collect more taxes….

  11. Divinely named shady companies – Kapsch almost reads like “corruption? and Zambian Lamise almost sounds like “Zambians lament”

  12. THE LEBANES IS A GOOD FRIEND TO ……HENCE THE DEAL. WAS THIS TENDER ADVERTISED? WHO DID A FEASIBILITY STUDY? THEN DISBAND RATSA NOW

  13. Hi everyone, I need some help. I’m looking for a title of a novel that used to be in Zambian high school / secondary school English literature syllabus (around 1996 / 1997 or so). I have forgotten the title and I would like to read it again… I remember the majority of the other novels that we read, including Things Fall Apart; The River Between; Cry the Beloved Country; The Chrysalids; The imprisonment of Obatala and a Shakespeare short story and I think a George Orwell novel too.

    But I can’t recall this other one book. I think the main character is a big guy who travels to visit his aunt or something at some village somewhere. The guy I think is a v!rgin and I think he falls in love with some girl over there. I tend to recall the guy was good at a game of throwing a disk…

    • continued…

      I tend to recall the guy was good at a game of throwing a disk and spearing it or something (or I may be confusing with another book here). I think his name must be something like ‘Menza’ or something and the village could be called Umtiti or something?

    • You are looking for ‘Mission to Kala’, written by Obutunde Ijimere! The main character is Medza, who travels to the village on a school holiday. Ohh, and yes, he is going there as a virgin. The setting of the book (in terms of place) is rural Cameroun; and in terms of time, it is a post-colonial story.

      I hope this is helpful. Cheers!

  14. Comment:Am very disappointed with the PF Government, can you imagine that these very people have started chasing school going children including the grade twelves and nines for none payment of school fees. They are busy spending money on things that are not even urgently needed. Most of these people went to Government schools without paying any money. My worry is if they chase these children today, they will mentally be affected. My grade 12 child has been chased from school and i have nowhere to get money from

  15. This is called attention shifting strategy. The technocrats know very well that Zambians are very good at jumping from one issue to another leaving the others unresolved but forgotten. The schemers are trying to shift the attention from the Maize, Fire Equipment, Fertilizer, Road gates, name it. We need an equally sophisticated citizenry especially a united civil society to catch up with the schemers, otherwise we will chase everything and not catch anything! When you look at the company that is alleged to have been contracted and their references, you will notice that not any single African country is referenced, not even South Africa. This is the beginning of the game!!

  16. began Eventually, we will take over after learning! Spaka, would have been happy if a person from his group was on the helm. Boo!

  17. MAY THE GOVERNMENT NO LISTEN TO RETROGRESSIVE YAPPING AND JUST CONCENTRATE ON DEVELOPING THIS COUNTRY.

    MWAMI ‘ONE’ PLEASE ARREST ANYONE WHO WILL DEMONSTRATE AGAINST THIS.

    • Your view of the world is too narrow. These guys (GRZ) must employ competent people who are upto date with technology etc. Remember situational awareness is very important. signing that deal is tying our hands to an an Austrian tree. We are not against good and progressive decisions. But we are against senseless decisions. I put a link to Lamise investments (Z) Ltd. take a look at the core competency of the people you’re entrusting with this with responsibility. They start to start erecting junk structures around the country at exorbitant prices. Traffic management is not selling plastic-ware

  18. I can never sign a 17 year technology related contract. Things are changing so fast that maybe in 17 years the company itself won’t even exits. How long are we Zambians going to continue paying ministers who have have no clue how the world is changing. Guys surely take for example 4G, It has taken less than 10 years we already are talking about 5G and beyond. New technologies are coming very fast, we need keep all options open. Tactical competency building in Computer science, transportation, agriculture, AI, Machine learning, big data, energy, medicine is what we need as a country in order to compete.

    • Yeah that’s the one…. thank you @ Smiley you saved me from headaches caused by stretching my memory to the limit 🙂

  19. Most times I think Zambians don’t give a s#it about their country. Not long ago your gvt was buying a single fire tender at $1m. Today they sign a 17 year public contract (we all know technology is changing so fast) with a questionable “Zambian” plastic selling company and you’re discussing high school crap here. Are you serious?

  20. The tragic thing I have observed is that most Zambians always look for the negatives even in things that appear promising. This is what I am seeing in some of the bloggers here. Instead of looking at this project as something the country can benefit from, they are trashing it even before it takes off. Please heed Einstein’s wise counsel: “Stay away from negative people. They have a problem for every solution”.

  21. I’m sure my friend Farley Winson can be given concession to make all of Zambia’s fuel from grass for the next 50 years with no competition permitted. Anyone who asks for details or any other questions is “bitter” and “traitor”

  22. The negative people are a regional grouping and representatives of a five time loser UPND party! That is why they have exposed themselves so much that no sane Zambian lover can put them in power! The pathetic group is unZambian but selfish!

  23. We hear Lamise bought “Jonathan” a lodge in appreciation…..isnt it just ironic, Lamise, a matress manufacturer to road safety management!!!!. Looting

  24. It’s like a thief is robbing your house. You say: “Hey! Stop, thief!” and the thief says “Don’t be negative iwe. You are just bitter, stop asking questions”.

  25. When was this tabled in Parliament?… Minutes Please.
    MPs can you please explain to us who are the supposed beneficiaries.
    History of the companies involved and their credentials to be availed also the Budget and expected expenditure for the Zambian to appreciate paying taxes…

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