African leaders were meeting yesterday to try to push ahead with a plan to invest US$7 billion in transport links between southern and central Africa.
Zambian President Rupiah Banda, Rwandan President Paul Kagame, Kenyan President Mwai Kibaki and Ugandan President Yoweri Museveni were due to meet in Lusaka yesterday to lure funding for the North-South Corridor project aimed at boosting trade flows and improving economic growth. WTO Secretary -General Pascal Lamy was also due to attend the talks, the meeting’s agenda showed.
“The program is ready,” John Donovan, program manager of the South African-based Regional Trade Facilitation Program, said in an interview in Lusaka on Sunday. “Work can start now if the funding is available.”
Southern Africa needs US$800 million for the rehabilitation of rail-wagons, locomotives and sections of railway in Tanzania, Zambia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, according to the North-South Corridor, while more than US$450 million is needed to upgrade the main Dar es Salaam port in Tanzania. The project intends to revamp 8,646km of highway, halve waiting times at border posts and cut the cost of moving goods by US$50 million a year.
The corridor project, a pilot under the Aid for Trade program, will prioritize routes from the Dar es Salaam port with the Copperbelt in Zambia and the Democratic Republic of Congo; and routes from the Copperbelt to South Africa’s ports, its Web site said.
The project will seek aid, loans or investment and encourage the full or partial sale of state-owned companies to private investors, Donovan said. It will start an investment fund for regional infrastructure, work to harmonize customs procedures between countries and aim to slash the length of time it takes to cross borders at a cost of US$20.4 million over the next five years, he said.
Tropical Storm Gaemi strengthened into a typhoon at 2pm yesterday, and could make landfall in Yilan County tomorrow, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said yesterday. The agency was scheduled to issue a sea warning at 11:30pm yesterday, and could issue a land warning later today. Gaemi was moving north-northwest at 4kph, carrying maximum sustained winds near its center of up to 118.8kph and gusts of 154.8kph. The circumference is forecast to reach eastern Taiwan tomorrow morning, with the center making landfall in Yilan County later that night before departing from the north coast, CWA weather forecaster Kuan Shin-ping (官欣平) said yesterday. Uncertainty remains and
DISRUPTIONS: The high-speed rail is to operate as normal, while several airlines either canceled flights or announced early departures or late arrivals Schools and offices in 15 cities and counties are to be closed today due to Typhoon Gaemi, local governments announced last night. The 15 are: Taipei, New Taipei City, Taoyuan, Tainan, Keelung, Hsinchu and Kaohsiung, as well as Yilan, Hualien, Hsinchu, Miaoli, Chiayi, Pingtung, Penghu and Lienchiang counties. People should brace for torrential rainfall brought by the storm, with its center forecast to make landfall on the east coast between tonight and tomorrow morning, the Central Weather Administration (CWA) said. The agency issued a sea warning for the typhoon at 11:30pm on Monday, followed by a land warning at 11:30am yesterday. As of
CASUALTY: A 70-year-old woman was killed by a falling tree in Kaohsiung as the premier warned all government agencies to remain on high alert for the next 24 hours Schools and offices nationwide are to be closed for a second day today as Typhoon Gaemi crosses over the nation, bringing torrential rain and whipping winds. Gaemi was forecast to make landfall late last night. From Tuesday night, its outer band brought substantial rainfall and strong winds to the nation. As of 6:15pm last night, the typhoon’s center was 20km southeast of Hualien County, Central Weather Administration (CWA) data showed. It was moving at 19kph and had a radius of 250km. As of 3pm yesterday, one woman had died, while 58 people were injured, the Central Emergency Operation Center said. The 70-year-old
SEA SEARCH: Nine crew members of a cargo ship had taken to the water after the vessel sunk off the southern coast, with a rescue effort under way, officials said The strongest typhoon to hit Taiwan in eight years yesterday killed three people and flooded parts of the nation’s second-biggest city, while rescuers were searching for nine sailors after their cargo ship sank in the storm. Typhoon Gaemi transformed streets in Kaohsiung into rivers, with some households flooded. Offices and schools were closed for the second consecutive day, with thousands of people evacuated. Three people died and 380 were injured due to strong winds and torrential rainfall brought by Typhoon Gaemi, the Central Emergency Response Center said. The typhoon made landfall in Yilan County’s Nanao Township (南澳) at midnight yesterday and departed Taiwan