Lusaka-Ndola Road Project To Begin By August – Minister Of Infrastructure

Charles Milupi, the Minister of Infrastructure, Urban and Housing Development, has announced that the construction project of the Ndola-Lusaka dual-carriageway will begin before August this year.

The Minister was interviewed by ZANIS Kitwe yesterday. He explained that the project had been delayed as provisions outlined by the Public-Private Partnership Act 2021 needed to be met.

He reassured that six months at most would be needed for the project contractor to finalise a financial model for the road project, but that the works would begin earlier than that.

The road has been described as the “backbone” of Zambia’s road network, and is critical in the transportation of Copperbelt minerals and other industrial products. The dual carriageway is 327km long, and the project will also incorporate the rehabilitation of the 45km Masangano-Fisenge-Luanshya road and the construction of the Kabwe and Kapiri Mposhi bypass, two new toll plazas and two weighbridges.

The Public-Private Partnership, Mr. Milupi said, is the most cost-effective way to rehabilitate and renovate the Lusaka-Ndola road, and that costs were below those projected by the previous government. PPP projects also generate local employment, which leads to better local reinvestment of money committed to infrastructure projects.

The government arranged a $577-million deal with Macro-Ocean Investment Consortium to develop the dual-carriageway last summer, as Macro-Ocean Investment offered a preferable deal to another bidder consortium led by Yamene Financial Services.

He also revealed that the government has made improving road infrastructure a key priority for the next four years. All major roads in the Copperbelt Province will experience rehabilitation work by the end of 2023, with major projects including the Mufulira-Mukambo, Ndola-Mufulira, Chililabombwe-Kasumbalesa and Chingola-Chililabombwe routes.