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Transport, Works Supply & Communications
wara Corridor links the northern regions of Zambia,
Malawi with the southern regions of Tanzania. Mt-
wara is a Port on the Southern tip of Tanzania and
was once use by Zambia’s for international trade.
The Lobito Corridor, which seeks to connect the
Northern Western parts of Zambia with Angola is
being planned for implementation by the two Gov-
ernments as it is expected to open up direct access
to the seaports in Luanda and Lobito Bay on the At-
lantic Ocean, providing Zambia with another shorter
land route to the western African coast for imports
and exports destined to and from Europe and North
America.
The Kazungula Bridge is intended to connect Zam-
bia and Botswana and replace the existing ferry ser-
vice between the two states, which at the moment
cannot meet the transportation demands of the re-
gion. The Nacala Development Corridor, like the Mt-
wara Development Corridor is a spatial development
initiative that broadly looks not only at Transport but
other economic developments in such areas as Min-
ing, Tourism, Agriculture and Commerce. It seeks to
unlock economic potential in marginalized areas but
also resource rich areas, using transportation as a
catalyst to the development process. The Chipata-
Mchinji Railway line, the missing link of the Corridor
was finally completed in August 2010.
Roads and Highways under construction improving the
Road network throughout the country
ROAD TRANSPORT
The road transport subsector continues to be the
dominant mode of transport attracting huge invest-
ment in infrastructure, from both donor and govern-
ment funding. As of 2010, 90% of the movement of
bulk goods was carried out on the roads of Zambia.
The subsector has been undergoing structural re-
forms since 2006 with the establishment of three
separate institutions that are in charge of the roads
sector. These are the Road Development Agency
(RDA), Road Transport and Safety Agency (RTSA),
and the National Road Fund Agency (NRFA). The
RDA is charged with the maintenance, rehabilitation
and upgrading of the main and district road network.
The RTSA is responsible for the implementation of
road transport policy, traffic management and road
safety, and for the provision of road safety education
through publicity campaigns. The NRFA manages
and administers the Road Fund and coordinates and
manages various donor financed road programmes.
Though it may be too early to fully judge the per-
formance of these agencies, so far improvements
in management of the sector have been seen. The
current Road Sector Investment Programme phase
II (ROADSIP) is running from 2005 to 2013 and is
expected to build upon the positive results of the
ROADSIP phase I, which improved the country’s
paved road network from 10 percent to 59 percent.
The major challenge facing the sector is sustainabil-
ity of financial resources after ROADSIP II comes to
an end and donor aid changes. Funding to the sector
will rely on domestic resources and supplemented
by user pay revenues such as toll roads to be imple-
mented using Public-Private Partnership.
Government has prioritized Agriculture and Tourism
as the key drivers of the national economy. Such
sectors are sensitive to transport, especially in rural
areas that are predominantly located far away from
the main markets and inaccessible to leisure seeking
tourists. These sectors offer abundant opportunities
to both domestic and international investors. Thus,
Government is working to improve roads to Agricul-
ture belts such as the proposed Nansanga Farming
block in Serenje.
During the Fifth National Development Plan period
(FNDP) (2006 to 2010), the Government has invest-
ed heavily in the construction and rehabilitation of
roads across the country. While this has seen the
quality of arterial road infrastructure improving mark-
edly, much more needs to be done to improve the
road network, particularly rural roads. The Needs
Assessment Report for 2009 from the Highway Man-
agement System has projected an annual budgetary
amount of US$ 500 million for a period of five years
to completely maintain and restore all roads from the
rating of “poor condition” to a “good” or “fair” state.
Zambia can be entered by road from the DRC, Zim-
babwe, Malawi, Mozambique, Tanzania, Botswana
and Namibia. All road borders are open 24-hours
per day, except for Chembe, Kazungula, Kariba and
Chirundu. Visiting drivers must hold an international
drivers’ licence, and those wishing to bring a vehicle
into Zambia must first obtain a temporary import per-
mit. Bilateral road transport agreements exist with