By ADRIAN MWANZA –

THE Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) has commended the Zambian Government for allocating land for the construction of a new ultra-modern COMESA head office in Lusaka.
COMESA secretary general Sindiso Ngwenya thanked the Government for allocating four hectares of land on the Great East Road for the construction of the new COMESA offices.
Mr Ngwenya said the total cost of the project would be US$47 million and that works would commence as soon as the budget was approved.
He said the location was appropriate and that it was near the airport which made mobility easy for delegates.
Mr Ngwenya said the offices would also comprise other facilities like hotels and a conference hall that would facilitate for meetings held in the country.
He said this during the tour of the land with Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Margaret Mwanakatwe in Lusaka yesterday.
Mr Ngwenya said the project would take 12 to 18 months depending on the availability of resources.
Ms Mwanakatwe said the Government was excited to partner with COMESA and that the organisation played an important role in terms of development.
She urged COMESA to ensure it properly utilised the land by constructing facilities that added value and brought in revenue.
“I am hoping COMESA will put up other facilities like hotels that will act as hosts for delegates that may come in the country to attend functions because the land is big and spacious,” Ms Mwanakatwe said.
She said COMESA countries had contributed a total of $1.3 trillion GDP and hoped that this would increase with time.
Ms Mwanakatwe said the location of the land was advantageous because much of the country’s development was taking place along the Great East Road.
“The location of this land is very advantageous because it is near the airport and most development is taking place on land which is near Chongwe,” she said.
Ethiopia’s Minister of Finance Ahmed Shide thanked the Government for the gesture and hoped that relations would continue bearing fruit.
Mr Shide said the government had shown the will to improve the conditions of COMESA by allocating the land which would boost COMESA’s capabilities.
“I would like to thank the Zambian Government for allocating us this four-hectare piece of land in order for us to build our new offices since the one we have is small,” he said.