China Eximbank provides $46.6 million loan for MR67 Omakange-Ruacana Road Upgrading Project

In 2012, China Eximbank and the Government of Namibia signed a $46.6 million loan agreement for the MR67 Omakange-Ruacana Road Upgrading Project. This loan carried the following terms: 20 year maturity, 5 year grace period, and 2% interest rate. The purpose of the project was to upgrade an 85km segment of the Main Road (MR67) road between Omakange and Ruacana by converting it from gravel to bitumen standard. Namibia’s Deputy Permanent Secretary of Works and Transport, Balbiena Pienaar, awarded the construction contract to China National Machinery and Equipment Import and Export (CMEC). Approximately 15% of the contract value for this project was reportedly set aside for Nambian SMEs. Over 500 jobs were also expected to be created for the local people. On May 16, 2013, the President of Namibia, Hifikepunye Pohamba, gave a speech at the groundbreaking ceremony for the project. It was originally envisaged that construction would take 24 months to complete, suggesting a project completion date around May 2015. However, the actual date of project completion was in June 2015. A project completion and road opening ceremony was held on August 19, 2015. This project is also known as Section 1 of the Namibia Northern Highway Upgrading Project. The Namibia Northern Highway Upgrading Project is divided into two sections: the Omakange—Ruacana section of the MR67 Highway and the Omafo—Outapi section of the DR3608 Highway. The Chinese project title is 的纳米比亚北方公路项目MR67.

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