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Zambia in hydropower deal with Chinese firm
March 10, 2004
By Reuters
Lusaka - Zambia's state power utility, Zesco, said this week it had signed a deal with a Chinese firm to build small hydropower stations across the country as part of its plan to boost the role of farming in the economy.
Zesco managing director Rhodnie Sisala said China Machine Building would spend $10 million (R65 million) to bring electricity to rural areas in Zambia, starting with three new farming areas in the centre of the country.
Zambia uses only 10 percent of its 73 million hectares of arable land, and the government has pledged to concentrate on farming this year in an effort to diversify the economy
'The country aims to bring electricity to rural areas and boost the role of farming' |
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The aim is to move away from mining and to export more food.
The country has launched an initiative to woo foreign farmers with offers of free farmland and has taken steps to enhance irrigation farming, tapping into a myriad rivers and lakes.
Sisala said studies would be carried out to determine how many hydropower stations should be built.
"We are looking at small hydropower stations and also at electricity distribution networks ... The aim is to build up the capacity ... and our [Chinese] colleagues have shown a lot of interest in working with us."
Zambia exports power to South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, Namibia and the Democratic Republic of Congo, but some remote areas of the country are still not connected to the national grid because of poor infrastructure and lack of money.
Sisala said Zesco would prioritise three areas in central Zambia and two in the northwest, where the government has earmarked thousands of hectares of land for free distribution to both local and foreign investors.
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