Namibia and Zambia commission new bridge over Zambezi River

KATIMA MULILO – Namibia’s President Sam Nujoma and his Zambian counterpart, Levy Mwanawasa have opened a new bridge across the Zambezi River, saying it would unlock the potential for trade and transport between their two countries and the African hinterland.

“The bridge stands as a symbol of our collective resolve and commitment to enhance the integration of regional economic development and road networks,” Nujoma said before cutting a red ribbon to declare the Sesheke Bridge open. “This is a historic day,” he said.The 900-metre structure connects Namibia to central Africa, extending the Trans-Caprivi transport corridor through to Ndola in northern Zambia to Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of Congo.”Economically, we wanted to bring development to the rural people,” Mwanawasa told some 3 000 guests who were entertained by dancers wearing traditional reed skirts accompanied by drums.”We want to open our frontiers to all our neighbours,” he said before he cut a separate ribbon at a lively ceremony at the bridge, which lies about five kilometres inside Zambian territory near the Namibian provincial town of Katima Mulilo.The two presidents then drove across the bridge in their convoys.The Sesheke Bridge took only two years to build and replaces a decade-old ferry service that was the only means of transport across the Zambezi.Namibian businesses see it as key for exports from landlocked Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo to the Namibian port of Walvis Bay.”We expect Zambian copper exports and the Zambian farmers’ union to show interest to export cotton, coffee, sugar and tobacco via Walvis Bay,” Frank Gschwender, a business development executive from Namibia’s Walvis Bay, earlier told AFP.The Sesheke Bridge was built by German and South African companies at a cost of N$100 million and was mainly funded by the German government.As part of the infrastructure aid program, Germany also paid to upgrade 200 kilometres of road to Livingstone near Victoria Falls in Zambia.”For the first time in road construction in Zambia, the road rehabilitation was undertaken in a most advanced process,” said Volker Oel, development cooperation secretary at the German embassy in Windhoek.Germany provided 32 million euros to build the bridge and improve the road in Zambia, he said.Bridges across the Zambezi are a rarity, with many commuters having to make use of ferry services to cross the river, sometimes with tragic consequences.Some nine people drowned in the crocodile infested waters of the Zambezi in September last year when their ferry overturned near Kasane, on the border between Zambia and Botswana, downstream from Katima Mulilo.That accident happened when a truck on board caused the overloaded flat-bottomed boat to tilt, flinging 15 passengers into the river.- Nampa-AFP”This is a historic day,” he said.The 900-metre structure connects Namibia to central Africa, extending the Trans-Caprivi transport corridor through to Ndola in northern Zambia to Lubumbashi in Democratic Republic of Congo.”Economically, we wanted to bring development to the rural people,” Mwanawasa told some 3 000 guests who were entertained by dancers wearing traditional reed skirts accompanied by drums.”We want to open our frontiers to all our neighbours,” he said before he cut a separate ribbon at a lively ceremony at the bridge, which lies about five kilometres inside Zambian territory near the Namibian provincial town of Katima Mulilo.The two presidents then drove across the bridge in their convoys.The Sesheke Bridge took only two years to build and replaces a decade-old ferry service that was the only means of transport across the Zambezi.Namibian businesses see it as key for exports from landlocked Zambia and the southern Democratic Republic of Congo to the Namibian port of Walvis Bay.”We expect Zambian copper exports and the Zambian farmers’ union to show interest to export cotton, coffee, sugar and tobacco via Walvis Bay,” Frank Gschwender, a business development executive from Namibia’s Walvis Bay, earlier told AFP.The Sesheke Bridge was built by German and South African companies at a cost of N$100 million and was mainly funded by the German government.As part of the infrastructure aid program, Germany also paid to upgrade 200 kilometres of road to Livingstone near Victoria Falls in Zambia.”For the first time in road construction in Zambia, the road rehabilitation was undertaken in a most advanced process,” said Volker Oel, development cooperation secretary at the German embassy in Windhoek.Germany provided 32 million euros to build the bridge and improve the road in Zambia, he said.Bridges across the Zambezi are a rarity, with many commuters having to make use of ferry services to cross the river, sometimes with tragic consequences.Some nine people drowned in the crocodile infested waters of the Zambezi in September last year when their ferry overturned near Kasane, on the border between Zambia and Botswana, downstream from Katima Mulilo.That accident happened when a truck on board caused the overloaded flat-bottomed boat to tilt, flinging 15 passengers into the river.- Nampa-AFP

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