ICBC provides $104.55 million loan for Blantyre City Bypass Road Project

Project narrative

On May 29, 2018, the Parliament of Malawi passed a Loan Authorization Act allowing the Government of Malawi to borrow $104,550,000 from the Industrial and Commercial Bank of China (ICBC) for the purpose of constructing the Blantyre City Bypass Road Project. A section in the Loan Authorization Act stated that the interest rate on the loan will not exceed 1.9%. This road will pass from Chigumula to Mpemba through Michiru to Chileka International Airport. Then it proceeds from the airport to Lunzu-Mapanga-Zomba-Chiradzulu turn-off before connecting Mzedi to Bangwe. In total, the road will be 97 kilometers long, and the aim is to ease the congestion on roads within the city. China Civil Engineering Group Co., Ltd. is the contractor responsible for the implementation of the project. A groundbreaking ceremony took place at Chigumula on February 10, 2018. As of October 2018, a local media outlet (The Times) reported the project was expected to reach completion within 3-4 years. Construction started in 2019 and media reports suggest that the project made some progress by August 2021. However, several reports suggest that the ICBC loan was never finalized and the Government of Malawi was attempting to fund the project with its own resources.