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China-Africa relations
ChinaDiplomacy

Chinese consortium to build US$650 million toll road in cash-strapped Zambia, but will it pay off?

  • Public-private partnership project will have a concession period of 25 years
  • Analysts say traffic and cash flows are difficult to forecast in less-developed markets

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The Lusaka-Ndola road in Zambia is being upgraded to a dual carriageway toll road by a Chinese consortium. Photo: Handout
Jevans Nyabiage
A consortium of Chinese companies will finance the upgrading of a 327km (203-mile) road linking the Zambian capital Lusaka to Ndola, in the country’s Copperbelt province, after years of false starts.
The Macro Ocean Investment Consortium, consisting of AVIC International Project Engineering, Zhenjiang Communications Construction Group and China Railway Seventh Group, won the US$650 million deal to build the dual carriageway road under the public-private partnership model.

The road links the capital to mineral-rich Copperbelt province and the border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo and carries almost all the road-bound mineral exports from the Copperbelt region along the southern corridor towards Tanzania, but due to heavy wear and tear, many segments have been in a dilapidated state for many years.

The agreement signed by the Chinese companies late last month gave them a 25-year concession period, split into three years for construction and 22 years operation and maintenance.

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Zambia opens memorial for Chinese railway workers who died building Africa’s Tazara line

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The PPP financing model is expected to lessen the debt burden on Zambia at a time when it has defaulted on foreign loans and is negotiating a debt restructuring deal with its lenders.

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