Home | Business News | Browse by Publication | A | African Review of Business and Technology

Demand cements business prospects: Humphrey Nkonde reports on the boom in cement marketing throughout the SADC region. It's not just stadium construction in South Africa that is attracting new developments in Lusaka and Ndola.

Article Excerpt
THE INCREASED NUMBER of construction projects in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) has swelled the demand for cement. In terms of cross-border infrastructure development the SADC region seems to be championing one of the tenets of the New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) blueprint.

Shortly after the Katima Mulilo Bridge has been completed across the Zambezi River to connect Zambia to Namibia, attention has shifted downstream to Kazungula, where a proposed bridge would link Zambia to Botswana. Although the bridge will connect the two countries, its construction will cover a portion of land in Zimbabwe. To this end, Presidents Levy Mwanawasa, Festus Mogae and Robert Mugabe of Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe respectively have signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) regarding construction of the bridge at Kazungula.

On the other hand, the Zambian government has engaged China Henan, a Chinese construction company, to erect a bridge across the Luapula River at Chembe. The Luapula River forms part of the boundary between Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC). Chembe is on the Pedicle Road, a shorter route through the DRC linking Zambia's Copperbelt and Luapula Province. Like at Kazungula, crossing of the Luapula River is done using a ferry.

Cement plant in Lusaka

It could have been these cross-border infrastructure developments that inspired Chilanga Cement...