On Tuesday 20 June in Lusaka, the European Commissioner for International Partnerships, Jutta Urpilainen, announced the resumption of budgetary aid to Zambia and launched three programmes worth €110 million as part of the Global Gateway programme.
A budget support allocation of €60 million will be added to the initial cooperation budget of €299 million as part of the multi-annual indicative programming (2021-2024). This aid will be used to improve, in particular, the education and health sectors - including access to inclusive, quality education at primary and secondary levels and to public health - and will help to stimulate the development of the pharmaceutical sector.
The EU will also invest €30 million in the rehabilitation of the Kariba Dam, in addition to the €83.5 million already paid for this project. This envelope will help finance the cost of additional work identified during the first phase of the project. The dam accounts for a third of Zambia’s electricity generation capacity and half of Zimbabwe’s.
Finally, €20 million will be used to support small-scale farmers who are coping with the consequences of the Russian invasion of Ukraine. This funding will supplement the €12.4 million already mobilised to help 60,000 small-scale farmers increase their productivity and to support women working in the sector. (Original version in French by Camille-Cerise Gessant)