KABERUKA

By BRIAN HATYOKA in Kasane, Botswana-
THE Africa Development Bank (AfDB) has pledged to work closely with the governments of Botswana and Zambia to accelerate the construction of Kazungula Bridge in Southern Province.
About US$259 million is required to build Kazungula Bridge and so far there is a financial gap of $60 million.
AfDB president Donald Kaberuka said his bank would accelerate procedures aimed at financing the bridge because the project was not only important to the economies of the two countries but to Africa at large.
Dr Kaberuka was speaking to Zambian and Botswana journalists on Saturday after he conducted a familiarisation tour of the proposed location for the bridge from both sides of the Zambezi River at Kazungula border.
All four Southern African countries, namely, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Botswana and Nambia meet at the proposed Kazungula Bridge along the Zambezi River, hence the location is a unique place in Africa.
Dr Kaberuka said Kazungula Bridge would be Africa’s most important project in terms of promoting economic integration.
“I am happy to learn that four countries meet here at Kazungula border and all this traffic goes beyond the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region,” Dr Kaberuka said.
“Very shortly, procurements will begin and civil works will start so that we will have a modern facility in a few years.”
Dr Kaberuka commended the governments of Botswana and Zambia for mounting up an important project which would benefit the entire African continent.
Dr Kaberuka said that several international cargo trucks were passing through the current temporal bridge from various African countries.
“The bridge will facilitate the transit of goods across Africa and hence we are going to accelerate the procedures. I know that the governments of Botswana and Zambia are equally committed to this,” Dr Kaberuka said.
He said he witnessed hundreds of vehicles on each side waiting to cross through the current pontoons for a week or two which indicated that the absence of a bridge was an enormous cost to the economies of the region.
Dr Kaberuka said the AfDB was prepared to work closely with the two governments to seal up the $60 million financial gap.
“I believe the small financial gap and technical issues will be resolved very quickly,” Dr Kaberuka said. “This is a very complex infrastructural project and it is usual to have challenges. The gap is very small and I am confident we will fill it.”