A fibre optic cable linking Malawi’s Lilongwe and Zambia’s Lusaka is among seven major infrastructure projects in southern Africa that have been earmarked for implementation under the newly initiated Programme for Infrastructure Development in Africa (PIDA).
The projects were outlined at the Dakar Financing Summit for PIDA which took place in Dakar, Senegal last month.
PIDA is a blueprint for African infrastructure transformation Malawi in continental infrastructure project for the period 2012-2040. It was adopted by African leaders in January 2012 and provides a strategic framework for priority infrastructure projects expected to transform the continent into an interconnected and integrated region.
To mobilise financial investment to accelerate PIDA implementation, the New Partnership for Africa’s Development (NEPAD) organized the Dakar Financing Summit on 1415 June in Senegal where a total of 16 strategic and regionally balanced projects were presented to potential donors.
Of these, seven are in the Southern African Development Community (SADC). These are the Lusaka-Lilongwe ICT Terrestrial Fibre Optic linking Malawi and Zambia, the Ruzizi III Hydropower Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), the Dar es Salaam Port Expansion Project and Serenge Nakonde Road in Tanzania.
“The Lusaka-Lilongwe ICT Terrestrial Fibre Optic project is aimed at facilitating interconnection between Malawi and Zambia,” re a statement from Nepad issued at the end of the Dakar summit, in part.
The other three are the ZambiaTanzania-Kenya Transmission Line linking the power grids of the three countries, the Batoka Gorge Hydropower Project involving Zambia and Zimbabwe, and the Brazzaville-Kinshasa Road Rail Bridge Project and the Kinshasa Illebo Railways in the DRC.
“The 16 projects were selected due to their strategic, political and economic importance as flagship regional projects,” NEPAD said in a statement, adding that “once implemented, these projects will significantly transform the way Africa does business.”
All the 16 selected projects cover the three main sectors of energy, transport and Information and Communication Technology (ICT). Malawi is also expected to benefit from the refurbishment of the Dar es Salaam Port which will include deepening and strengthening the berth for deep sea vessels, and increasing the capacity to handle bigger vessels.
Once completed, the port would allow Tanzania and regional countries to earn as much as US$2.6 billion per year from traffic at the port. The Dar es Salaam port is the second most important gateway for regional trade in east Africa after Mombasa, catering to 90 percent of Tanzania’s international trade and a significant part of trans-shipment trade for Zambia, Malawi, DRC and Uganda.