Zimbabwe seals funding deal to modernise Chirundu border post
Zimbabwe announced a funding agreement with private partners to upgrade the Chirundu border with Zambia, easing delays on a vital copperbelt trade route.
Zimbabwe's government announced on Tuesday that it has reached a funding agreement to upgrade the Chirundu border crossing with Zambia, clearing the way for construction work on one of the region's busiest trade gateways.
The transport and infrastructure development ministry said the deal was struck with private-sector partners under the Chirundu Border Consortium. The project is structured as a public-private partnership.
Chirundu, which opened in 2009 as Africa's first one-stop border post, sits on the North-South Corridor. It handles freight moving between ports in South Africa and Mozambique and the copperbelt region spanning Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo.
Goods passing through the crossing include copper, cobalt, fuel, mining equipment, reagents and fertilisers. Trucks have long faced bottlenecks and lengthy queues at the post.
The modernisation plan calls for replacing ageing infrastructure and introducing advanced operational and processing systems aimed at cutting delays and congestion.
The ministry did not disclose the final investment figure. Zimbabwe's Cabinet has previously put the project cost at $66.8 million, with private investors set to operate the facility for 20 years under a concession agreement.
Safaga International, which led a $300 million upgrade of Zimbabwe's Beitbridge border with South Africa, is heading the Chirundu project. South Africa's Strategic Partners Group is also a strategic investor. Standard Bank is the lead debt arranger and senior lender.