On 19 March 2012 in Lusaka, Zambian Finance and National Planning Minister, Alexander Chikwanda, and the Chair of the COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite Task Force, Secretary General Sindiso Ngwenya, signed two grant agreements committing funds from the Tripartite Trust Account.
A US$23.205 million grant will help to complete construction of 24 kilometers of the Lusaka-Chirundu Road, stretching from the bottom of the escarpment to the Chirundu One-Stop-Border-Post. This is the last of the four-linked Lusaka-Chirundu Road to be financed. The other three road links have been financed by the Chinese government and the World Bank. US$6.64 million will also be invested in a new weigh bridge at Kafue to improve trade facilitation along the NSC.
Speaking at the signing ceremony in Lusaka, Mr Sindiso Ngwenya said that this was a momentous occasion for the Tripartite Trust Account as the grant to Zambia would be the first funds committed from the Account and which was ready for disbursement to a government. The COMESA-EAC-SADC Tripartite created the multi-donor trust account in December 2009 and it has been supported primarily by the UK’s Department for International Development (DFID) up till now.
For more information on TMSA and the Tripartite's work on Corridors and Infrastructure, please visit http://www.trademarksa.org/our_work/corridors_infrastructure.
For Geographical Information System Information on Infrastructure, including road and rail conditions for Eastern and Southern Africa, please visit http://www.tmsagis.co.za/
