Zambia and Botswana will start building a $259 million bridge in June to replace the ferry service between the two states, the chief executive of Zambia’s Road Development Agency said on Tuesday. Bernard Chiwala told journalists the contract would be awarded in Botswana on Monday.

The bridge, which is expected to improve transport between the mineral-rich regions of Zambia and Democratic Republic of Congo and the port of Durban in South Africa, would be completed in four years, Chiwala said.

The project is financed by the African Development Bank and the governments of Zambia, Botswana and Japan. 

The proposed bridge is some 75 kms from Livingstone.