Ndola Dual Carriageway Work Well Underway

On Tuesday, President Hichilema is expected to launch the construction of the Lusaka to Ndola road, transforming the highway into a modern dual carriageway.

Preliminary work and preparations on the site are already well underway. The project has been warmly welcomed by a number of government officials and development experts.

The dual carriageway, stretching 324 kilometres, and costing $650 million, will become a key artery for the country, creating a high-speed link for goods and services between the capital and Zambia’s economic engine of Copperbelt Province.

On the stretch between Kabwe and Ndola, the Contractor AVIC International is already clearing the 10km of road ahead of the project launch.

Speaking to ZNBC, Minister for Transport and Logistics, Frank Tayali, said “I think that the traffic count on this road is so high that we are glad we came up with this public private financing model to allow this particular road to be able to pay for itself without it impacting on the treasury. We feel that it’s high time that this road was upgraded.”

During construction, the project will become a major factor in the local economy, with more than 4,000 direct jobs for construction workers, and 24,000 indirect jobs for local services created by the project.

Central Province Permanent Secretary, Milner Mwanakampwe said, “We will monitor the contractor from time to time, because they are not angels, they are human beings, just to make sure that they are not tempted to use technicians. They must use engineers, qualified engineers.”

The road is expected to take 3 years to expand and reflects an important milestone in President Hichilema’s plans to modernise Zambia’s economy, supporting the mining sector in Copperbelt and creating well-paying jobs for thousands of hard-working Zambians.