Zambian Chronicle

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Chicago, IL – MWH, a global provider of environmental engineering, strategic consulting and construction management services, has been selected to perform technical and economic feasibility studies and assist in the selection of an independent power producer (IPP) for the proposed 750-Megawatt (MW) Kafue Gorge Lower Independent Power Project in Zambia. The two-year, $1.5-million contract with IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is scheduled to be completed in March 2010.

IFC is the lead transaction advisor to the Zambian government for the structuring and bidding of the eventual project to potential developers. Donor funding for the MWH consulting contract as well as for the project’s legal consultants comes from the DevCo Trust Fund.

The planned project is part of an effort by the Zambian government and Zesco, the state power utility, to avert power shortages and increase output to serve the growing mining industry and improve the quality of life for Zambia’s rapidly growing population. Of the country’s 11 million people, 98 percent of rural people and 60 percent of urban dwellers do not have access to electricity. An electricity deficit forced the state power utility to begin rationing electricity in 2007 while the cost of electricity continues to rise. Zambia, like many other southern African countries, has been hit by power outages that have forced copper and cobalt mines to scale back production. Total power demand – now at about 1,600 MW – is anticipated to reach 2,500 MW in the next five years.

The Kafue Gorge Lower Hydro Project site is in Zambia’s Kafue Gorge, about 40 miles upstream of the confluence of the Kafue River and the Zambezi River and three miles downstream from the existing tailrace tunnel outlet of the 900-MW Kafue Gorge Upper Hydro project. The Lower Project will develop the remaining 650 feet of head on the Kafue River and will contribute about 25 percent of the country’s entire supply of electricity. Zambia currently gets 98 percent of its energy needs from hydropower and the remaining from small diesel generators. When funded, construction of the facilities is expected to take five to six years at an estimated cost of $1.5B. The project would be the country’s largest planned power project.

MWH’s Work History in Zambia
MWH started working in Zambia in the early 1990s with a feasibility study for increasing water supply to Lusaka, the capital. This was followed by other feasibility studies to develop the hydropower potential of Zambia, including the Itezhi Tezhi and Kafue Gorge Lower on the Kafue River projects and a number of medium-sized projects (60 to 300 MW) on the Luapula and Kalungwishi Rivers.

SOURCE: MWH

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Lusaka, Zambia – Zambia will hand over the Southern African Development Community (SADC) chairmanship to South Africa this week at the ordinary SADC heads of state and government summit in Johannesburg, South Africa.

The regional summit, scheduled to take place 16-17 August, will be held with a view to strengthening and consolidating sustainable regional political and economic integration and development.

The summit will be preceded by a SADC Council of Ministers meeting scheduled for Thursday/Friday, the Department of Foreign Affairs in Pretoria disclosed.

Among others, the summit will focus on political developments within the region, regional economic integration, challenges around food security, and the financing and construction of the new SADC headquarters.

As part of SADC’s efforts to deepen long-term regional economic integration, the SADC heads of state and government summit will on 17 August launch the Free Trade Area (FTA) of the Community.

The SADC FTA will be launched under the theme “SADC Free Trade Area for Growth, Development and Wealth Creation”.

The launch of a Free Trade Area will formalise the elimination of trade tariffs among SADC member states, enhance regional economic integration and the creation of bigger regional markets.

Zambian ailing President Levy Mwanawasa, who is the current SADC chairperson, is currently hospitalised in Paris, France, after he suffered a stroke on 29 June.

During his tenure as SADC chairperson, Mwanawasa took a strong position on neigh bouring Zimbabwe, condemning the political violence in that country.

Mwanawasa had called on President Robert Mugabe to postpone the presidential run-off in June, noting that the environment in Zimbabwe was not conducive to conduct free and fair elections in that country.

He also urged SADC member states not to allow the ship from China, which carried arms for Zimbabwe after the first disputed presidential and parliamentary elections, to dock in those countries.

South African President Thabo Mbeki, who will take over the SADC chairmanship, is currently the mediator in the Zimbabwean talks involving key political party leaders in Zimbabwe.

Mbeki met with the political leaders in Zimbabwe till the early hours of Monday (11Aug) on the details of power-sharing talks, which is said to have produced a deal.

Analysts said Mbeki is keen to strike a deal ahead of the SADC summit.
 
Lusaka – 11/08/2008

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