Hope dashed for US$175m motor vehicle assembly plant

By NATION REPORTER GONOW Zambia limited, a company which was expected to construct the $175 million motor vehicle-assembling plant at the Lusaka South Multi-Facility Economic Zone (LS MFEZ) has chickened out, MFEZ managing director Mukela Lubasi has confirmed.

Gonow, a Chinese brand was expected to start the construction in September 2016 but two years down the line it had only managed to hold a ground-breaking ceremony.

Ms Lubasi told Daily Nation that the Zambian investor had failed to carry on with the project despite getting approval from relevant authorities.

“The construction has not started we were waiting for the investor but the investor failed to start the construction of the motor vehicle-assembling plant here,” she said.

Company director Gerald Makungu had announced the plant which would to sit on a 2.5 hectare land was expected to open up many opportunities including business and partnership prospects, job creation and further improve the livelihood of the general populace

It was also anticipated that the company was going to be assembling 20 vehicles per day for distribution within the southern Africa development community (SADC).

The last major motor vehicle manufacturing plant Zambia had was Livingstone Motor Assembling, which was closed in 1992.

And new hopes of Zambia having another motor vehicle assembling plant seem to have died with Gonow Zambia failure to construct the plant.