Financing the Park's demise...

Two banks express interest in financing LHZ’s project
By Mwila Nkonge
The Post Newspaper, Friday September 01, 2006

LEGACY Holdings Zambia (LHZ) development director Renatus Mushinge has reassured that the company would follow international best practice in implementing its project in Livingstone.

LHZ has proposed to build two five-star hotels, an 18-hole golf course and golf estate villas in the Mosi-oa-Tunya National Park in Livingstone. However, the project has raised uproar, with the National Movement Against Corruption (NAMAC) threatening to seek judicial review of the proposed project unless contentious issues were addressed.

And Legacy Group chairman Bart Dorrestein has disclosed that the European Investment Bank (EIB) and Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) have expressed interest in financing LHZ’s project.

Mushinge told The Post that in developing the project, LHZ would learn from the experiences of other countries that have golf courses and other similar developments in national parks.
He added that before granting the tourism concession, the Zambia Wildlife Authority (ZAWA) has stressed the need to ensure that the elephants’ corridor in the area, as well as human access to the Zambezi River front are not disturbed.

“We have undertaken to incorporate all these in our plans and we shall learn from at least seven countries that have similar projects in national parks,” Mushinge said.

The seven countries where the project’s development will draw lessons from include South Africa, which has the Skukuza golf course, developed in 1972, in the Kruger National Park.

Kenya has two golf courses, Mount Kenya Safari Club in the Mount Kenya National Park and the Aberdares Country Club in the Aberdares National Park, while Zimbabwe has the Elephant Hills Golf Club in the Victoria Falls National Park on the Zambezi River bank.

Uganda, Croatia, Canada and the United States of America are the other countries with similar developments.
And in a statement, Dorrestein said besides EIB and DBSA, other regional and international financial institutions were interested in funding the project.

“Legacy has received formal Expressions of Interest from the European Investment Bank (EIB) and the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to provide some of the financing requirements for the US$200 million Mosi-oa-Tunya Hotel and Country Club Estate Project in Livingstone once Legacy Holdings Zambia Limited acquires the necessary statutory approvals from the relevant Zambian authorities and meets the banks’ lending criteria,” Dorrestein stated.