ZAMBIA AND Zimbabwe have secured US$275 million in loans and grants to rehabilitate the gigantic power-generating Kariba Dam on the border between the two countries.

The grant comes after warnings that the wall standing 128 metres is aging and needs repair.

The European Union is expected to provide the largest chunk of US$100 million, while the World Bank and the African Development Bank will each chip in with US$75 million in loans. Sweden will grant US$25 million.

Rehabilitation of the dam is expected to cost US$300 million, and the two countries have agreed to pay the difference.

Kariba Dam is one of the world's largest, generating more than 1,300 megawatts of hydropower for the two countries.