Government Asks Chinese Embassy To Expedite Loan For FTJ University

Minister of Foreign Affairs Joe Malianji has written to China’s Ambassador to Zambia, Li Jie, asking him to expedite a state loan to ensure the timely construction of the Frederick Titus Jacob Chiluba (FTJ) University in Mansa. 

In his letter to the Chinese Embassy, dated April 21 2020, Mr Malanji said the FTJ protect was very important and that the loan had to be approved, despite repeated government promises not to further stretch Zambia’s foreign debts.

The minister said the loan was urgently needed as the university would have a state of the art medicine school, which would play a scientific role in the fight against Covid-19. The university is already several months behind its estimated completion date of February 2020. 

The estimated costs for the design and construction of FTJ’s Mansa campus total some US$255, with the contract awarded to the China Energy Engineering Group, which is also tasked with building a similar facility at Kasama. 

As of February 2020, Zambia’s foreign debts stand at US$11.2 billion. Finance Minister Dr Bwalya Ng’andu had previously promised to refrain from any unnecessary loans. 

In July 2019, he announced that cabinet had agreed on a “moratorium on contraction of externally financed projects in order to reduce the project cost, and ultimately reduce the undisbursed loan balance”. 

On Monday, it was announced that President Lungu was seeking further credit facility from the IMF, after the fund delivered a grim prediction that Zambia’s economy would shrink by up to 3.5% in 2020. 

Foreign Affairs Minister Joe Malanji