Government has signed a grant agreement with the Nordic Development Fund totaling to K39 million for the development of climate resilient infrastructure standards and codes.
Finance Minister Alexander Chikwanda signed the grant agreement on behalf of government while Nordic Development Fund Country Manager Rohanna Palmberg signed on behalf of her organisation.
Speaking during the signing ceremony at the Ministry of Finance headquarters in Lusaka today, Mr. Chikwanda noted that no country in the world has ever developed without appropriate and adequate infrastructure.
Mr. Chikwanda observed that the development of Zambia has been hampered by inadequate and dysfunctional infrastructure.
He said the country has backlogs of infrastructure deficiencies and stressed that tackling these deficits was very prominent on the Patriotic Front (PF) government’s ambitious development agenda.
“Infrastructure particularly as it relates to roads is very expensive. When roads have been constructed, they need maintenance and when the standards are flawed, the costs of maintaining such infrastructure can be prohibitive,” he said.
Mr. Chikwanda stressed that there was need therefore to ensure that infrastructure was constructed to highest specifications and standards to guarantee reasonable levels of infrastructural integrity.
“It is in this context that the proposed Nordic Development Fund financed adaptation project valued at Euro 4 million (K39 million) has significance and meaning. The thrust of this funding will be developing of codes and standards for infrastructure development in the road transport sector,” Mr. Chikwanda said.
He said climate factors such as high rainfall, high temperature and other related factors will always impact on infrastructure and that it was an inescapable requirement that they were always taken account of in the plans.
Mr. Chikwanda further stated that it was government’s hope and expectation that it could build on these initiatives with Nordic and other cooperating partners.
He noted that Nordic countries are characterised by absence of huge disparities in their own communities saying these countries revolve on meaningful fellowship internally.
“Nordic countries are not a power bloc but are kind of moral anchor for the global community. This is the kind of spirit that resonates in Zambia,” he said.
And Nordic Development Fund Country Manager Rohanna Palmberg underscored her organisation’s commitment to continue investing in climate proof infrastructure in Zambia.
Ms. Palmberg said climate change issues were real as can be seen from among many other factors the increased rainfall.
She said countries need to start preparing themselves for this climate challenge.
ZANIS
At the rate we’re going, by the time its 2016 we really won’t have a country to fight for.
0_o
THE CIRCUS HAS COME TO TOWN!
The deal is in order.
For your own information, the European Union has what it calls a “Strategic Plan for African Development” in which they have stipulated a pledge to render consistent support to African countries in their process of national development up to the year 2015. Moreover, they have agreed to assist African countries in meeting their millenniums-development goals within the given period. Each member-states has a percentage of monetary funding (from tax revenues) which it is required to render for this cause. It is against this background that the Nordic countries are making these grants.
Some of us have to work in these fields everyday and so we happen to follow these matters at first hand over here.
My simple short question is: Is this free money, a donation to Zambia or Zambia is expected to back somehow?
Should read “pay back somehow”
It’s a grant Sir, grant being the key word or in other words wont be paid back but they will release the monies as they see the work progressing. I hope this answers your question Sir.
lets us all enjoy and borrow as much as we can. Then we use it for govt travels abroad, more bye elections, buying new govt vehicles, paying the MP s more,
buying a new airline, …..the list is endless.
viva zambia
nkongole.gud advice by the post.we borrow carelesly in zambia.on the local scene we even borrow to go and drink intoxicating drinks with our girl\boy friends and yet leave nothing at our homes.
Guys it’s a grant, no borrowing here. Come guys
The West, Nordic countries included are out to recolonize Africa and other nations via aid and related instruments. They have double standards and only praise those standards that are geared for their ownership. The EU, IMF, WB, USAID are examples of entities easily termed,”Trojan Horses”. They come with a clear stealth methods of retaking resource rich nations via uncharted means. Sadly, our leaders in Zambia and most of Africa are not intellectually grown to understand these mechanisms. Old men like Sata, ABC are very pliant to foreign mechanisms are are too old to understand that they are placing Zambia on a recolonization route by signing all these agreements which are diminishing the control Zambians have over their nation.