THE African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide an $108 million grant for infrastructural development in Zimbabwe, Finance and Economic Development minister Patrick Chinamasa has said.
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The grant comes at a time when government has set aside a paltry 8% of the National Budget for capital expenditure with 92% going towards recurrent expenditure.
“In this regard, the $107,9 million grant approved by AfDB board will go a long way in addressing some of the infrastructural challenges facing the country. I am pleased to inform that AfDB has actually approved the $35,6 million under the multinational Kariba Dam rehabilitation project,” Chinamasa said yesterday.
“The rehabilitation of the dam wall is a welcome development as it gives precious water and power to the region, therefore it is integral to socio-economic livelihoods of our people.”
He said the regional bank has also set aside $1,1 million to support meat and leather value chain. Chinamasa said this resonated well with the value addition and beneficiation which would can resuscitate the value chain.
“This support comes at an opportune time when the country has witnessed a high level of company closures in the past few years resulting in us becoming an importer of most manufactured products. As a result, this intervention is expected to improve the value of our exports as well as create jobs,” he said.
The AfDB plans to finance the rehabilitation of water and sewer infrastructure in Bulawayo and Marondera to the tune of $37 million and $2,6 million respectively.
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“As you are aware, out of 32 municipalities in the country, only 8 are benefiting from the ongoing Zim Fund project administered by AfDB of which Bulawayo and Marondera are excluded. In view of this, I truly want to thank AfDB for this intervention which also reduce the number of municipalities that need water rehabilitation to 22,”he said.
The bank will also assist the financial sector and the youth and empowerment projects.
Meanwhile, the World Bank’s board of executive directors yesterday approved a $75 million IDA credit and $25 million grant from the government of Sweden to Zambia for the Kariba Dam rehabilitation project.
The project is aimed at assisting the Zambezi River Authority in securing the long-term safety and reliability of the Kariba Dam Hydro-Electric Scheme.
The project, with total financing of $300 million, was being co-financed by the African Development Bank and the European Union and would help the Zambezi River Authority, which was responsible for the management of the Kariba Dam, to reshape the dam’s plunge pool and refurbish its spillway, as well as improve dam operations in order to bring it up to international safety standards.
