The Governor of the Zambezi Region, Dorothy Kabula, has highlighted several challenges facing the region, with delays in key road projects topping the list.
The region continues to encounter significant road infrastructure challenges, as several strategic road projects are either progressing slowly or have come to a halt.
Governor Kabula said construction of the Nakabolelwa-Kasika road is underway, although temporarily suspended due to flooding.
The Bukalo-Muyako-Ngoma road construction is ongoing, but progress is extremely slow.
Additionally, construction of the Makanga and Masida access roads is also moving at a slow pace, despite the commencement of the projects in 2024 and 2025, respectively.
Kabula also expressed concern over the deteriorating condition of roads across the region.
"Following the heavy rains that have affected the region, many roads, including those within the town of Katima Mulilo, have sustained significant damage. The Roads Authority, in collaboration with the Katima Mulilo Town Council, is currently undertaking repairs," she stated. "The B8 section between Mulanga and the Kongola checkpoint is in dire need of urgent rehabilitation. Likewise, the stretch of the B8 road between Chetto and Omega 1 also requires immediate attention to avert potential loss of life. I urge the Roads Authority to enhance its supervision of these critical roads."
Earlier this year, Works and Transport Minister, Veikko Nekundi, inspected the damaged 20-kilometre stretch of the B8 road near Kongola, describing its condition as a disaster that required urgent rehabilitation.
The road is a key economic corridor, carrying heavy volumes of cargo trucks while also serving as one of the country's major tourism routes.
Beyond road infrastructure, Kabula said annual flooding remains one of the region's biggest challenges, disrupting crop production, livestock farming and access to essential services such as healthcare and education.
She also identified youth unemployment, limited industrial investment, increasing human-wildlife conflict, land disputes and a shortage of serviced land as major obstacles to the region's development.
Other concerns include ageing police and hospital vehicles, cross-border crimes such as cattle rustling, overfishing of the Zambezi bream and the long-delayed Zambezi Tourism Waterfront infrastructure project.
Others are a lack of a truck port to strengthen the region's role as a logistics and export hub, and what she described as the unequal distribution of conservancy benefits.