Southern Region B Director, Chiji Ojukwu, was on a dialogue mission to Zambia from 9 to 14 July 2012 where, along with the Vice President and Chief Economist, Mthuli Ncube, he was on the panel of the High Level Policy Seminar Dialogue on Youth Employment in Africa held in Lusaka on 9 July.
Mr Ojukwu and Mr Ncube also held meetings with AfDB Governor and minister for finance and national planning, A. B. Chikwanda and the minister for commerce, trade and industry, Mr Robert Sichinga.
On 12 July, Mr Ojukwu undertook a field visit to the AfDB-funded Itezhi-Tezhi hydro power plant project in the southern part of Zambia. The AfDB is providing financing under ADF - USD 45.2 million and under NTF - USD 10 million. From the private sector window, the AfDB also provided a senior loan of up to USD 35 million and a standby loan facility of up to USD 3 million from the non-sovereign window with a tenure of 15 years (including a four year grace period) for the development, construction, and operation of a 120 MW independent power plant on the Kafue river, in a concession under a public-private partnership (PPP) arrangement.
The transmission line will evacuate the power to the proposed Mumbwa and Lusaka West sub-stations. During the visit, Mr Ojukwu met the project management team from ZESCO, who presented an overview of the existing Itezhi-Tezhi (ITT) Dam and the Itezhi-Tezhi power project. The project management team outlined the various infrastructure works that have commenced and provided details on the expected benefits of the hydro power project, with the electricity generated from the power plant expected to address power shortages in Zambia and the Southern Africa region.
After touring the infrastructure to be worked on, he commended the company on the good work done so far and encouraged the contractors to prioritize the most critical works to be done first to ensure that quick gains are achieved in improving power supply within the country and the region. The Regional Director was accompanied to Itezi-Tezhi by the AfDB's Resident Representative in Zambia, Mr Freddie Kwesiga, ORSB Country Economist, Mr Ndoli Kalumiya and ZMFO Procurement Specialist, Mr Natan Masauso Jere.
