Name and location
Shire-Zambezi waterway project, Malawi, Zambia, Mozambique and Tanzania.

Project description
The project will involve the construction of a waterway that will link landlocked Malawi's inland port of Nsanje to Mozambique's Indian Ocean port of Chinde - a distance of 238 km.

The project has a number of components, the first being a comprehensive feasibility study. The study will include determining the structural works and equipment necessary to make the river system navigable as well as designing the structural works for the ports at Nsanje and Chinde. The study will include an economic, social and environmental assessment and a detailed execution programme for the project.

Another component of the project is infrastructure development and equipment acquisition. Under this component, the project is expected to provide berths and port buildings and to replace all the port structures that are dysfunctional. There will also be dredging and conversion of the Shire-Zambezi waterway into a modern canal, construction and rehabilitation of roads infrastructure within the corridor area, setting up of a container-stacking area and rail works.  

The roadworks to be undertaken as part of the project include construction and rehabilitation of the road from Malawi's lakeshore town of Salima through Lilongwe to Zambia, construction and rehabilitation of the road from Malawi's lake port of Nkhata Bay into Zambia, Rwanda and Burundi, and the construction of a road from Nsanje to Malawi's tea-growing district of Thyolo.

The lined-up rail works include the rehabilitation and construction of the railway line from Nsanje through the Malawian cities of Blantyre and Lilongwe to Chipata, in Zambia.

The vessels to be procured for the project will be in the form of shallow-draft self-propelled barges and push-tugs with interlocking barges, shallow-draught dredgers and appropriate feeder vessels.

Value
$6-billion.  

It is expected that the project will be financed through a consortium made up of donor agencies, the private sector and the governments of participating states within the framework of Nepad.

The Malawi government has reported that it has secured $2,5-billion for the construction of the Shire-Zambezi waterway.

The $2,5-billion has been secured from foreign private-sector investments and financing institutions like the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the Amalgamated Banks of South Africa and the International Finance Corporation.

Duration
Unknown - as the project is still in the planning phase.

Breakdown of main contracts
Not stated.

Client
Malawi government.

Latest developments
The Malawi government says it is fast-tracking feasibility studies for the Shire-Zambezi waterway project in order for the construction works for the project to start in 2009 as scheduled.

The feasibility studies for the project, which are currently focusing on the navigability of the Shire, are so far showing that there is nothing that can bar ships from sailing in the river since the average depth in most places is between 8 m and 9 m while the width is between 50 m and 60 m.

After the feasibility studies, the project will move to the implementation stage, whereby dredging will be carried out in some parts of the two rivers.

The government is also preparing to carry out other projects that are linked to the waterway, such as the construction of the railway line from Nsanje through the commercial city of Blantyre to Chipata, in eastern Zambia.

The Malawi government is also advancing in its quest to secure financing for the waterway project, which will be financed through a consortium comprising donor agencies, the private sector and governments of the participating States within the framework of New Partnership for Africa's Development.

Participants
The Zambian government, the Mozambican government, the Tanzanian government, the European Union, Comesa, Nepad and Hydroplan International (prefeasibility study).

Construction materials
Too early to state.

On budget and on time?
Too early to state.

Contact details for project information
Malawi Ministry of Transport, principal secretary, Francis Chinsinga,
tel +265 1 789 377, fax +265 1 789 328.