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Zambia seeks to mobilize funding for major hydropower project

Xinhua, January 4, 2017 Adjust font size:

Zambia is expected to hold a high-level regional investment conference aimed at mobilizing resources for a hydro power project to be constructed in collaboration with neighboring Zimbabwe, a senior official said on Wednesday.

The high-level conference was aimed at mobilizing 6 billion U.S. dollars for the construction of the Batoka Gorge Hydro Power Plant, a joint venture project between Zambia and Zimbabwe which will be producing 2,400 megawatts of power.

Minister of Finance Felix Mutati said the conference will attract multilateral financial institutions, bilateral cooperating partners as well as local, regional and multinational private sector organizations, according to a statement posted on the ministry's Facebook page.

According to the Zambian minister, the conference was aimed at marketing the financing requirements of the project, adding that the construction of the project will significantly increase power exports to the region under the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) and help address the power deficit in the region.

Last month, the two countries held the 34th Session of the Zambezi River Authority Council of Ministers meeting in Zimbabwe where the Council considered a report on the Batoka Gorge Hydro Electric Power project. The Zambezi River Authority is an agency that manages the Kariba Dam, which is co-shared by the two countries.

The construction of the project is scheduled to commence this year and the site of the project is about 54 kilometers downstream from the Victoria Falls in southern Zambia extending across the international boundary between the two countries.

The project, which was approved by the two countries in 2012, would produce 2,400 megawatts of electricity to be shared equally.

The Zambezi River Authority has been mandated to facilitate the implementation of the project. Endit