Contractors have been asked to submit bids by March 14 to upgrade the 67.9km Eutini-Chikwawa corridor road in northern Malawi.
The call for proposals for the US$44 million contract was announced by Millennium Challenge Account-Malawi II (MCA-Malawi II) on January 10 and has a contract period of approximately 30 months.
The roadworks are part of the US$245 million Accelerated Growth Corridors (AGC) program, funded by the US government’s Millennium Challenge Corporation (MCC). MCA-Malawi II is the responsible organization implementing this project on behalf of the Government of Malawi and is the employer of the road works contract.
The AGC project aims to improve an estimated 300 km of highways, primary roads and secondary roads along four corridors, reduce transport barriers between farms and markets, and reduce the cost of road freight transport in Malawi.
This work includes retrofitting existing roads with bridges and drainage structures to standard pavement, while also addressing outstanding challenges in routine maintenance of these and associated unpaved community access roads. In total, the AGC project will carry out scheduled maintenance on selected highways and improve approximately 376km of link and feeder roads associated with selected corridor roads. This includes regular maintenance of the 35km Goromoti-Monkey Bay Road (M10) from Goromoti in the central region to Chanturo in the south.
The Eutini-Chikwawa agreement includes the reconstruction of three bridges as well as the construction of the main closed link roads in the corridor, namely the 12.6km route leading to Maridad Trade Center and the 1.2km road leading to Mferembe Trade Center.
Source: Tender document, January 2025
The four corridor roads are being bid in separate parcels.
The first section covers 83 km of roads in the Mukanda-Linga Corridor, which stretches between Mchinji and Kasungu districts in central Malawi.
Segment 2 consists of the 67km Eutini-Chikwawa corridor section, while Segment 3 includes the 53km road of the Chileka-Likuni corridor located within Lilongwe, the capital of the Central region.
Plot 4 covers 77km of roads along the Chanturo-Muktumula corridor, which runs from Mangochi district in the south to Ncheu district in the central region.
You can bid on Euthini-Chikwawa’s work here.
On September 18, 2024, tenders were invited for the Chileka-Likuni and Chantullo-Muktumla works, with a deadline of November 20, 2024. The Chileka-Likuni work has a value of US$32 million and an estimated duration of 30 months, while the Chanturo-Muktumla contract has a value of US$48 million and an estimated duration of approximately 32 months.
The Mukanda-Linga Corridor construction work is yet to be tendered.
Eligible companies may bid on one or more lots individually or in a consortium. However, a contractor cannot receive orders for more than two lots. For such large construction packages, bids are selected based on quality and price.
MCA-Malawi II anticipates that roadworks on the CL and CM corridors could begin in May 2025, with construction on the ML and CE corridors a few months later.
Source: MCA-Malawi II
In June 2023, LEA Associates South Asia was selected to carry out the detailed design and supervision of the 45-month Eutini-Chikwawa Corridor and Mukanda-Linga Corridor works. A team from Sheradia Associates and MPAMOT Africa was selected to carry out the detailed design and supervision of the Chileka-Likuni road and Chanturo-Muktumula road works over a period of 48 and a half months.
The AGC project will also carry out regular maintenance on selected highways and improve approximately 376km of link and feeder roads associated with selected corridor roads. This includes regular maintenance of the 35km Goromoti-Monkey Bay Road (M10) from Goromoti in the central region to Chanturo in the south.
The AGC project is a key part of the US$350 million Malawi Transport and Land Agreement signed by MCC and the Government of Malawi in September 2022. The agreement has a strict five-year implementation schedule and is expected to be concluded by May 2029. The program aims to reduce transportation costs for smallholder farmers and modernize urban land systems, benefiting more than 5 million people across the country.
Top photo: Malawi roads (Source: MCA-Malawi II)
