Zambia and Zimbabwe have jointly offered 2132 hectares of land to African Union for the first SADC multi-billion dollar Wakanda One Village project.
Zimbabwe offered 2000 hectares of land while Zambia brought forward 132 hectares.
Zambia made its offer in March last year and Zimbabwe’s offer was confirmed by African Union Ambassador to the United States of America Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao at the Intra African Trade Fair which was held in Cairo, Egypt recently.
The Wakanda One Village project will be constructed in Victoria Falls area which borders the two countries.
According to media reports, the project will serve as a first of its kind in Southern Africa region.
It is set to include a 100-bed teaching hospital, a university and a technical college, primary and secondary schools, day-care centres, three five-star hotels, a game lodge, a pharmaceutical manufacturing plant, agricultural farms and parks, to mention the few.
The project takes its name from the technologically advanced, fictitious African country from Marvel’s Black Panther superhero franchise, which spawned a hugely successful film last year.
According to Zimbabwe’s The Herald, Zimbabwe has pledged 2,000 hectares to the project while Zambia has offered 132 hectares.
African Union ambassador to the United States, Dr Arikana Chihombori-Quao at an Intra African Trade Fair in Cairo, Egypt, confirmed: “I met His Excellency President Mnangagwa recently and he offered us 2,000 hectares for the regional Wakanda One in Victoria Falls.
“The offer also comes in when the Zambian government has also offered some land across the river in Livingstone. So we are looking at building the village straggling the border between the countries.”
According to The Herald, the Wakanda One project is in line with Zimbabwean President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vision for a new Zimbabwe.
He reportedly wants to turn Zimbabwe into an upper-middle-class economy by 2030, driven by tourism, agriculture, and mining.
Mnangagwa, who in November officially took over from Robert Mugabe, who ruled the country for 37 years, certainly has his work cut out for him, as the country is currently facing a severe economic crisis.The Citizen reported on Saturday that Mnangagwa announced a massive fuel hike that saw prices more than double, from R19 a litre to R45 a litre.
Mnangagwa, Mugabe’s former deputy and veteran of the ruling ZANU-PF party, has faced a new wave of turmoil since last year, as prices rocket and shortages spread, from bread to fuel.In October, before he was inaugurated, Zimbabwe’s new president urged citizens to stay calm as drivers queued for hours for rationed petrol and those with money stockpiled any food for sale.
The shortages have reportedly created a thriving black market.
Zimbabwe’s worsening economic crisis has also had a devastating effect on access to medicine, with prices pushed up beyond what many can afford.
(Additional reporting by AFP)
Boza! And why only 132 hectares?
This PF nonsense of giving away land should have stopped in 2018.
Why does PF think they can give away all the land in Zambia ?
Is it Lungu’s mother’s land?
Total nonsense by clueless PF government.
Whatever sh1t these AU, SADC & zanu & PF00Ls are smoking, i want some of it.
Our youths deserve better than this crop of clowns.
@1 indigo tyrol,Maloza,Wakanda etc
Typical keyboard warriors just wasting time online doing nothing ba Pompwe imwe…just criticizing everything….pure losers get a life ba chimbwi imwe
African keep dreaming while the rest of the world moves on to the 4th economy. That’s why we will forever be slaves
The fantasies of Africans.
IndigoTyro and Maloza, Zambia will benefit from this project, which will be funded by the AU and the blacks in diaspora. This is not the same as Lungu giving land away to his buddies, the Chinese. So, calm down and research more on this project. Ethiopia is set to do the same thing too, and I’m sure many more other African countries. It’s the diaspora’s money, not yours.
Has Zambia got thinkers and strategists? At times I wonder and it makes me so sad.
How does Zambia offer 132 hectares and Zimbabwe 2,000?
That’s it… we have officially handed over the falls to Zimbabwe…
There’s something wrong with zambia’s Way of thinking
Because it’s in the Southern Province that’s why.
I concur, not many in this administration have good heads screwed on their shoulders. The only language they understand is 10% cuts on contracts and corruption. Its painful when you look at the pathetic lot in the cabinet, is this the best this country can offer????
That’s because its not their masters the Chinks
wakanda ECL AND MNANGAGWA PROJECT MUST BE EMBRACED BY ALL CITIZENS FOR BOTH COUNTRIES
This is so silly! Wakanada is a brand on its own and owned in the US. They have rights to everything associated with the name. This is where intellectual property comes in. Are we really that dull! Those people will come back and haunt us and even sue us for using their name without permission. Not to mention the legal fines to which we cannot afford and they will end up taking this initiative and further prospering. What about loyalties? Did these chaps ever think of that? The other thing they forgot is, that is protected land (Victoria Falls) and UNESCO did declarer that. Victoria Falls is too fragile to be doing any construction and needs to be protected. Sometime we just need to leave nature alone.
Yes Victoria Falls is a UNESCO heritage site so this Wakanda could be in conflict with this. The declaration is made in recognition of the fact that Victoria Falls is a fragile environment. SkyScrapers and heavy construction could mean and end to the Devil’s Pool for example, which is Zambia’s ace centre at Victoria Falls.
Two governments run by clowns whose countries are members of an organisation that he proven useless to African problems. Wakanda village for what purpose? You want Wakanda just watch the movie *****s…Use the money to protect our animals from the South African poachers instead.
Wakanda nonsense is this? Isn’t there a copyright on the name?
Zambia should have offered more land to this project than the way they are just giving to the Chinese for exploits. This shall create employment permanently. But 132 vs 2000 ? It’s a joke
Have honestly failed to understand how Zambians think
It’s a great aspiration to make a real Wakanda, but I’m glad the plans include a teaching hospital – probably the nearest real-life equivalent to a superhero training facility. But yet again its a prestige project, albeit an inspiring one, and I would rather see focus on feeding everyone properly and getting healthcare and education to every village. It might not be as glamorous, but I think it would be more effective use of funds.