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Government has signed four grant agreements worth over Euro35.8 million (K750 million) with the KfW Development Bank, on behalf of the Federal Government of Germany.
The joint projects would support Zambia to transparently procure low-cost private sector investment in the renewable energy sector as well as increase access to water supply and sanitation in Eastern and Southern province.
The first grant agreement supports government, in particular the Ministry of Energy and ZESCO, to the overall objective to improve the framework conditions for private sector investments in renewable energy.
The other three grant agreements are additional support to the water and sanitation sector in Eastern and Southern province, beefing up Germany’s ongoing support to the water sector to Euro 120 million.
Finance and National planning Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane at the signing ceremony in Lusaka on Tuesday said the projects are well aligned with Zambia’s key development aspirations that aim to contribute to economic transformation and jobs creation for the next five years.
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“For instance, the government’s focus in the energy sector will be on the development and management of energy resources in a sustainable manner to address the many challenges,” Musokotwane said.
He also said government would focus on investing in water resources development and management to meet the rising demand and productive use of water.
In this regard, he pointed out efforts were being made to increasing access to safe drinking water and adequate sanitation services.
“Therefore, the support that Zambia will receive through the urban water supply & sanitation and the management of water resources and sanitation for medium sized towns projects will contribute to our objective of improving sanitation in the targeted districts of the country,” Musokotwane said.
At the same function, Stefan Lutz, Director of KfW office Zambia committed to help improving the lives for the Zambian people with its expertise and financing.
“KfW has been a long-standing partner of the Zambian government in improving access to water and sanitation, both in urban and rural areas,” Lutz said.
Bernhard Traunter, Head of Development Cooperation at the German Embassy said: “Our joint Global Energy Transfer Feed-in Tariff (GET FiT) programme is indeed very timely to address the needs for transparent procurement of more renewable energy via private sector participation.”
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