Zambia will resume construction of a power line linking it to East Africa, creating one of the largest energy markets in the world, a senior World Bank official said on Friday.
Work on the Zambia–Tanzania Interconnector Project is set to resume this month, with estimated completion in 2028, Achim Fock, country manager for Zambia at the World Bank, said on Friday during a signing ceremony.
The $320m (R6.04bn) project to connect Zambia and Tanzania's power supplies is being financed by the World Bank, the EU and UK.
The cost of the remaining work is $298m (R5.63bn), of which a World Bank grant will cover $245m (R4.63bn), acting finance minister Chipoka Mulenga said at the same event.
The project was first floated more than a decade ago but has been stalled for various reasons, most recently due to Covid-19, as well as concerns over Zambia's debt default in late 2020.
Zambia struck a deal with bondholders last year and is seen as a test case for a debt rework under the Common Framework, a G20 platform to bring together big creditors like China and the group of established creditor nations known as the Paris Club.
Fock said an integrated market connecting the Southern and East African power pools would help lower electricity costs and increase energy security, and create new opportunities for trade and investment in the power sector across Africa.
Zambia to resume work on power line link to Tanzania: World Bank official
Image: Reuters/Thomas Mukoya
Zambia will resume construction of a power line linking it to East Africa, creating one of the largest energy markets in the world, a senior World Bank official said on Friday.
Work on the Zambia–Tanzania Interconnector Project is set to resume this month, with estimated completion in 2028, Achim Fock, country manager for Zambia at the World Bank, said on Friday during a signing ceremony.
The $320m (R6.04bn) project to connect Zambia and Tanzania's power supplies is being financed by the World Bank, the EU and UK.
The cost of the remaining work is $298m (R5.63bn), of which a World Bank grant will cover $245m (R4.63bn), acting finance minister Chipoka Mulenga said at the same event.
The project was first floated more than a decade ago but has been stalled for various reasons, most recently due to Covid-19, as well as concerns over Zambia's debt default in late 2020.
Zambia struck a deal with bondholders last year and is seen as a test case for a debt rework under the Common Framework, a G20 platform to bring together big creditors like China and the group of established creditor nations known as the Paris Club.
Fock said an integrated market connecting the Southern and East African power pools would help lower electricity costs and increase energy security, and create new opportunities for trade and investment in the power sector across Africa.
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