ZAMBIA TO BE LINKED TO ANGOLA VIA ROAD

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ZAMBIA TO BE LINKED TO ANGOLA VIA ROAD

An Angolan company has expressed interest to work with a local company in a public-private partnership (PPP) to build a road and border post to link the two countries, reports Martha Banda.

Since Independence there is no road linking Zambia to Angola despite the two countries sharing a border covering over a thousand kilometers.

Infrastructure and Urbana Development Minister Charles Milupi has disclosed the development.

In a statement availed to Zambian Eye, Milupi wrote:

SOME PPP INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS HAVE NOT TAKEN OFF BECAUSE CONCESSIONAIRES ARE DELAYING TO REACH FINANCIAL CLOSURE STAGE
On Friday, a delegation from the Angolan government, led by that country’s Ambassador to Zambia, His Excellency Azevedo Xavier Francisco, paid a courtesy call on us at Infrastructure House in Lusaka.

During the interaction, an Angolan company, MPCP Limited, expressed unsolicited interest to construct an international bituminous standard road from Solwezi to Jimbe Border Post in Ikelengi district of North-Western Province.

In a joint venture with Edenvale Investments Zambia Limited, MPCP Limited, which according to its chairman, Mr. Paulo Pinheiro, is a holding company of 10 construction companies, proposes a Public-Private Partnership (PPP), to build, operate and transfer the Solwezi to Jimbe Border Post road and also construct a one-stop border post at Jimbe, and constructing the road from Jimbe to Cazombo on the Angolan side.

We reaffirmed that the construction of the Solwezi to Jimbe Road is government’s top priority.
Because, as you may be aware, Zambia and Angola share the second longest border of about 1,100 Kilometers, but since independence, the two countries are not linked by any road. The New dawn government is as such working on ensuring that the two countries are linked by a road at Jimbe, Sikongo and Shangombo districts.

However, we cautioned MCPC Limited to quickly reach the financial closure stage in the event it succeeds in getting the PPP-based road contract. This is because some PPP projects delay due to concessionaires taking long to reach financial closure in the pre-contract award stage.
#SolweziJimbeRoad
#ConnectingAfrica
#ZambiaAngolaTies

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