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Zambia's 2027 Budget: 5 takeaways for engineers 🇿🇲 The Grow Zambia Agenda is, at its core, an engineering agenda. Here's what stands out: 1. Infrastructure gets serious money. K18.1bn for 787 km of roads, plus K2.4bn for airports, more than double 2026. Rail is being restructured with open access, and the Lobito line breaks ground in Q4 2027. 2. Power is the biggest gap. We're at 4,722 MW against a 10,000 MW target by 2031. Over 1,400 MW of non-hydro capacity arrives in 2027, but transmission (330kV and 400kV lines) will decide whether that power reaches the grid. 3. Corridors link everything. TAZARA, Lobito and Zambia Railways are also economic corridors. Farm blocks, 500,000 ha of irrigation and copper (930,000 t today, 3 Mt by 2031) all depend on transport and energy working together. 4. Digital infrastructure is the quiet enabler. Fibre has grown from 15,000 km to 42,000 km, and smart gates are coming to Kazungula and other borders. But only 572 of 1,578 planned e-government services are live, so execution is the issue. 5. Delivery is the real test. Debt service (K67.6bn) dwarfs the roads budget. PPP viability gap funding, a new DFI and arrears clearance will determine whether projects get built and contractors get paid. Local content and skills will matter just as much. Budgets set direction. Engineers deliver the results. #thewyman #Zambia #Budget2027 #Engineering #Infrastructure #GrowZambia #EIZ