World bank suspends funding for Inga 3 Dam in the Congo

The World Bank Group has suspended disbursements of funding to the Inga-3 Basse Chute (BC) & Mid-Size Hydropower Development Technical Assistance (TA) Project in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

This follows the Government of DRC’s decision to take the project in a different strategic direction to that agreed between the World Bank and the Government in 2014.

Africa Director of International Rivers Rudo Sanyanga says: “We applaud the World Bank’s decision to suspend Inga 3, a project in which it shouldn’t have become involved in the first place. Inga 3 represents a failed development model which bypasses the poor for the benefit of extractive industry and export markets.”

And Joshua Klemm, Policy Director of International Rivers, comments: “The World Bank’s withdrawal illustrates that Inga 3 violates basic environmental and procurement standards. Any other investors should think twice about getting involved in this white elephant.”

Chinese and Spanish consortia have each submitted bids for the contract to develop the Inga 3 scheme, with the winner to be announced in October.

The project’s biggest unknown is who will finance the $14 billion price tag. The African Development Bank, the European Investment Bank, and the French government have all expressed interest.

Yesterday’s embarrassing decision should serve as a wake-up call for the World Bank, which promotes mega-dams as a false solution to energy poverty and climate change.

With the dams it finances ending in huge delays and cost overruns all over the world, the World Bank may finally learn a hard-won lesson. Comments Peter Bosshard, International Rivers’ Interim Executive Director: “For the World Bank, this could spell the beginning of the end of its love affair with mega-dams.”

On March 20, 2014 the World Bank’s Board approved a US$73.1-million grant from its International Development Association (IDA) for the project, consisting of Inga-3 BC development support (US$47.5 million) and mid-size hydropower development support (US$25.6 million).

At the time of suspension, approximately 6% of total project financing had been disbursed.

The Inga component of the TA project aimed to finance a flexible suite of technical assistance, including strategic advice to the Government, complementary studies, capacity building, and institutional strengthening.

The IDA TA project aimed to support a government-led process for the transparent development of Inga-3 BC as a public private partnership.

The World Bank Group is in a continuing dialogue with the Government about the implementation arrangements of the project, with the goal of ensuring that it follows international good practice.

The World Bank Group remains committed to supporting the DRC in its efforts to provide affordable and reliable energy for its people and to drive sustainable sources of growth for its economy.

Beyond the Inga project, the Bank Group will remain engaged in the electricity sector in DRC by focusing on improving the performance of the State Utility SNEL, rehabilitating mid-size hydropower plants, increasing energy access, and continuing support to regional transmission interconnections. 

Dig at Ing’ombe Illede reveals 700 AD skeleton

Excavated skeleton-Picture By Doreen Nawa

By DOREEN NAWA

NATIONAL Heritage Conservation Commission (NHCC) Archaeologists have excavated a skeleton of a woman in her early 30s at Ing’ombe Illede in Chirundu District.

Speaking in an interview yesterday, NHCC Public Relations Manager Isaac Kanguya the skeleton was found with beads around the neck and metal bracelet a sign of being a rich woman. She is believed to have lived between the periods 700 to 1100AD.

Mr Kanguya said the discovery is a milestone in Zambia’s history and has added value to the Ing’ombe Illede historical site.

“What makes the discovery important is that it has been done by Zambian archaeologists all working under NHCC. Many people interpret Ing’ombe illede only as a ‘sleeping cow’ but the site has proved that it has a lot to offer to both local and international tourists,” Mr Kanguya said.

Mr Kanguya said the skeleton was found in a squatting position, a posture the dead were buried in at that time.

He said during the excavation of the site, two burial grounds were discovered, one containing a skeleton buried with copper ornaments, bracelets and beads and the other only containing a skeleton.

He said the existence of the two different graves proves that social stratification existed at that time at the site.

Mr Kanguya said the site is thought to have been a small commercial state or principality whose chief item of trade was salt.

Items of trade believed to have been common at IIng’ombe illede site also include textile, copper ore, ceramics and gold.  

Ing’ombe Illede is an archaeological site on a hill near the confluence of the Zambezi and Lusitu rivers close to the Kariba Dam.

Mr Kanguya said the site was uncovered in 1960 by government workers who were digging foundations for water tanks and was excavated by J.H Chaplin in the same year. PUBLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON JULY 17, 2016-https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=73659

Swakopmund: City worth visiting

DOREEN NAWA, Swakopmund, Namibia
AN INTENSIVE investigative journalism course is what I had always wanted to do.
And when the Open Society Initiative for Southern Africa (OSISA) and the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST), formerly the Polytechnic of Namibia, announced the call for applications for the 2016 Journalism Summer School (JSS) earlier this year, I applied.
On June 1, I received an email that I had been accepted to participate in the course from the June 20 to July 1, in Swakopmund, Namibia. It was an all-expense-paid for trip.
The journey started with a bag of suspense and surprise and I was not hoping for anything less. Indeed, it did not disappoint, as I later found out that Swakopmund is nothing short of the unpredictable.
Transiting through Johannesburg to Walvis Bay, we arrived in Swakopmund on June 19. The weather was far from friendly. It was definitely something we are not used to in Zambia as temperatures ranged between six and 15 degrees Celsius.
The country of Namibia boasts one of most remarkable landscapes in Africa, and indeed the world.
Swakopmund is Namibia’s second largest city and a more relaxed place than the capital, Windhoek. It is located on the Atlantic ocean coast with the Namib Desert to its North. The city’s roads are well tarred and they seemed to end where the desert and the great sand dunes start.
The two weeks’ stay in Swakopmund will greatly be remembered for not only the extensive knowledge I acquired after the 14-day training but also because of a number of visits to Walvis Bay, the beach, the Dune 7, a drive in the Namib Desert on our way to Gobabeb Training and Research Centre and the life around Swakopmund town.
The city’s German origins are clearly visible, with its many distinct old German colonial buildings standing vividly in contrast to the Namib Desert on the city’s outskirts.
Known as Swakop to the locals, the city has a discernible Germanic flavour and design, dating back to Namibia’s colonial days as German Southwest Africa. Today, the trappings of a beach resort are mixed with that Old World charm. Imagine Bavaria by the sea. There is even an Oktoberfest.
The city is neat and clean. Its orderly buildings and streets are a marvel. Having visited Bonn in Germany, I thought I was back in Europe because Swakopmund looks similar to Bonn.
Unlike what one would probably have expected of a city in a country located in a desert region, Swakopmund’s air is surprisingly cold with a constant wind blowing from the Atlantic Ocean, as someone jokingly said, the city is a competing ground for the desert and the ocean. It seems the ocean won.
The sand dunes in close proximity to the town facilitate various activities including sandboarding, horse riding and quad biking.
My stay would not have been complete without a visit to the dunes and on the day allocated for the excursion, we found ourselves heading to the Dune 7. Dune 7 is approximately 7km east of Walvis Bay and 30 km south of Swakopmund.
It is the highest dune in the coastal region, and is a popular spot for various activities including sand boarding and the simple challenge and pleasure of climbing it.
The majestic dunes of the Namib were formed as a result of the sand being carried by the wind from the coast. The sand, estimated to be five million years old, comprises predominantly small grains encased in a thin layer of iron oxide. It is this coating that gives Namib a characteristic red colour.
I attempted to climb the majestic Dune 7 twice but I failed. I was mentally and physically exhausted. I simply threw my body under a palm tree, out of breath as I tried to nurse my aching hands and legs and compose myself.
And I was not the only one. Two colleagues from Malawi and Lesotho equally failed to ‘conquer’ Dune 7.
Usually, a taxi around the city to any destination costs only N$7 (7 Namibian dollars) which is equivalent to US$1.
One day, I got a taxi and asked the driver named Bambo why Swakopmund still has a Western touch to it. The answer from Bambo was not different from what I read and observed about the city.
“The city is different from the rest of the country in many ways, not just with regards to climate. And Swakopmund has lots of historical sites and has developed relatively more than Walvis Bay,” Bambo said.
Hollywood film stars Brad Pitt and wife Angelina’s daughter, Shiloh was born in Swakopmund in 2006. Swakopmund was also the location of the filming of the remake of the famous 1960s British television series ‘The Prisoner’.
A trip across its beautiful terrain can easily be regarded as one of life’s great adventures. THE ARICLE WAS PUCLISHED IN THE ZAMBIA DAILY MAIL ON JULY 10, 2016-https://www.daily-mail.co.zm/?p=72403