The new head of the University of Zambia (UNZA), vice-chancellor Luke Mumba, has big plans for how to right UNZA’s poor financial situation. He intends to set up a company, UNZA Holdings, which will engage in income-generating activities. The focus will be on a commodity in short supply: student accommodation. UNZA Holdings will construct a 10,000-bed student village at its 120-hectare Liempe Farm about 15 kilometres further out on the Great East Road in Lusaka. Here, renewable energy will be used to generate 50 MW, of which the majority will be sold back to ZESCO at an expected income of $500,000. In addition, UNZA Holdings will turn its Marshlands Village across the road from campus into a hotel. Mumba also plans to set up a new fund to spearhead research projects, but did not touch upon the China-Zambia Agricultural Technologies Demonstration Centre planned for Liempe Farms, according to reports from last year.
