Major road investment planned in Zambia

A huge investment is planned in a series of road projects in Zambia. The country’s government intends to spend close to US$5.6 billion over the next five years on road construction. Because Zambia has an extensive copper mining industry the country has benefited heavily from strong demand for the metal, particularly from China. As a result it now has the financial resources to help improve the road network. The Zambian Government has also committed itself to building 2,300km of roads and spending $1.56 billion in the first phase of this work. Zambia has a pressing need to upgrade its network, which includes 71,000km of unpaved roads and 20,000km of paved roads at present. The Zambian Government intends to invest $2.22 billion on building 3,049km of roads in the second phase of works. A further $1.78 billion will then be spent on improving 2,862km of roads in the third phase of works.