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Fri November 01 2024

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Zambia gets $243m for highway upgrade

17 Jul 15 The African Development Bank (AfDB) has approved loans totalling US$243m (£155m) towards the rehabilitation of the road connecting Zambia to Tanzania.

The project to upgrade the 210km Chinsali-Nakonde road aims to improve infrastructure and services as well as reduce transport costs between northern Zambia and southern Tanzania.

Work includes reconstruction of the road between Chinsali and Nakonde, as well as rehabilitation of 50km of feeder roads and construction of service stations, The project also includes other aspects such as training opportunities for youths and women in road maintenance; and technical assistance to support development of a road maintenance strategy.

The Chinsali-Nakonde road is a strategic national and regional road link that forms a section of both the North-South Corridor, which traverses eight countries, and the Trans-Africa Highway, running from Cape to Cairo. The road connects northern Zambia to Tanzania, and provides connectivity and access to the sea for landlocked Zambia. It links the port of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania to the Copper-belt in Southern Democratic Republic of Congo and Northern Zambia. It also connects the Copper-belt to the southern ports of South Africa.

The present degraded condition of the road, which was constructed in the 1970s, is seen as an impediment to national and regional mobility.

Total cost of the work is estimated at US$255.76m. Zambia’s government is expected to provide the remaining 5% in the form of counterpart funding.

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