The Government of Zambia, and concessionaire Macro-oceans Investment Limited, have signed a 25-year Public-Private Partnership concession agreement, for the upgrade of the 327-kilometer Ndola-Lusaka Road, to a dual carriageway, at a cost of over 577 million dollars.
The projects include rehabilitation of 45 kilometers of the Luanshya – Fisenge – Masangano Road.
Speaking during the signing ceremony in Ndola, Finance and National Development Minister, Situmbeko Musokotwane, says Public Private Partners are responsible for organizing finances, building the road, and operate it profitably.
Dr. Musokotwane says the mechanism is designed to service all the financial obligations of the contract, from the toll fees that will be collected.
The scope of the project will include others such as construction of two weighbridges, two toll gates, bypasses for Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi, and expansion of existing bridges.
The latest deal is far below the 2017 deal of one point two billion dollars ($1.2 billion), commissioned by former President Edgar Lungu, and an advance thirty million dollars ($30 million) was paid to the contractor.
However, when it ascended to State House, the new dawn government canceled the project, citing mass irregularities.
By Lovemore Sondashi