Kazungula Bridge Project Bill gets the nod

 

The bill, which mandates the Botswana government to raise a loan from the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA) for facilitation and financing the project, received overwhelming support in the House.Finance and Development Planning Minister Kenneth Matambo said Botswana and Zambia have agreed to participate in the implementation of the project by way of a sponsors' agreement, which has been drawn up and agreed upon. The minister then listed various financiers that have shown interest in financing the construction phase of the project.

'The African Development Bank (Afdb), European Investment Bank (EIB), Chinese Exim Bank and the JICA are units that have shown interest. However, we have opted for assistance from JICA because the terms of their loan were more favourable than others,' Matambo said.He said that JICA also pledged to provide technical assistance worth US$ 6 million to Botswana, which will cover capacity building in the form of project management and operations of the one stop border post in addition to the loan.

The Kazungula Bridge project will cost an estimated US$ 272.81 million (about P1.967 billion). The two partner countries (Botswana and Zambia) will co-finance the project on an equal cost-sharing basis. To meet part of the funding Botswana will have to raise a loan of approximately P833 million to part finance the project whereas the remainder, P150.6 million, will be contributed by the Botswana government from domestic resources.

The minister said a fixed interest rate of 1.2 percent per annum, a commitment fee of 0.1 percent charged on the outstanding loan balance, a repayment period of 17 years (excluding a grace period) and a grace period of six years are the negotiated terms of the loan.The objective of the Kazungula Bridge project is to link countries in the southern part of the sub-continent with those in the north with a bridge on the border between Botswana and Zambia, which lies at the confluence of the Chobe and Zambezi rivers.

'It is envisaged that the bridge will reduce transit time at the borders, since currently it takes an average of 30 hours (two-and-a-half days) for trucks to cross the border and this is expected to be reduced to two hours upon completion of the bridge,' said Matambo.Vehicles operating costs are to be reduced by more than US$ 3 million for passenger vehicles and US$ 2 million for trucks per year by the year 2020.

The minister said it would also improve the regional connectivity of the North-South Transport Corridor, regional integration of the economies in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). It will improve trade competitiveness and create employment opportunities.'The project is expected to employ upto 500 people during the construction and another 100 people to operate and manage the bridge after completion,' Matambo said.

The Kazungula Bridge project consists of a road and rail bridge, border facilities and access roads. The one-stop border facility that will be operated by both countries in order to provide better and faster service. He said the short rail component would be constructed in anticipation of the implementation of the Mosetse-Kazungula railway line that will connect Botswana and Zambia.Matambo pointed out that some negative impacts on the environment are anticipated and therefore mitigating measures that include construction of temporary and compliant waste and pollutants storage as well as disposal facilities will be undertaken.

He said monitoring of river contamination, re-vegetation where necessary and locating the construction site camps away from flood lines and alluvial sediments during construction will be considered.He emphasised that residents of the villages near the river will have to be resettled on the Zambian side of the border.