IFC, a member of the World Bank Group (“WBG”), together with representatives of Western Power Company Limited (“WPC”), a limited liability company established under the laws of Zambia ,are collaborating on the development of the Ngonye Falls hydropower project, a 180MW run-of-river hydroelectric power project on the Zambezi River in the West Province of Zambia (“Project”). WPC is expected to be the lead developer of the Project and will work together with IFC as co-developer. The Project would increase Zambia’s hydropower generation capacity and access to electricity in the Western Province of Zambia. The collaboration between WPC and IFC will seek to develop a bankable payment security mechanism for the Project. This collaboration would focus on ensuring that payment risks relating to the Project are mitigated as much as possible.

This initial phase of Collaboration does not include an E&S scope. If this initial Collaboration phase is successful, then the next co-development and collaboration (CnC) phase will start with a review of the existing E&S impact assessments (ESIA) and mitigation plans among others: the Resettlement Policy Framework, Resettlement Action Plan, and the Livelihoods Restoration Plan.

In this next phase, the main E&S risks to be considered include but are not limited to (i) physical and economic displacement of households due to permanent and temporary loss of land due to the installation of infrastructure (canal and power station) and loss of some agricultural plots, loss of flood recession farming and grazing areas, and the disruption to traditional fishing practices and loss of fishing grounds due to the creation of a headpond upstream of the weir (ii) disruption to migratory fish movement and loss of habitat for fish specialized to fast-flowing areas (iii) large influx of migrant workers with the attendant stress that such a population influx will have on community infrastructure cost of goods and living, public health and security, and on worker-community relations including risks of gender-based violence and sexual exploitation and abuse, (ii), the creation of a headpond and buffer zone area and the impact on upstream seasonal flooding, (iv) partial permanent inundation of the Litunga’s Canal (a cultural heritage resource).