15 Jun 2021

The Kazungula International Cycling Challenge (KICC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Chobe District Council.

Speaking during a signing ceremony media conference and unveiling of sponsors at the banks of the Zambezi River in the Botswana pontoon, chairperson of the race, Moutlakgola Masire, said the partnership was an important element of the challenge since the council was a custodian of the area where the race would take place.

Masire said as a way of celebrating the commissioning of the Kazungula Bridge and to boost the Kazungula and Zambezi regions’ economies through sport tourism, Mo Squared and other stakeholders came up with the idea of KICC.

He said the challenge dubbed #BridgetoBrigde would be held at a date to be confirmed in September.

It would start at the Kazungula Bridge via Livingstone in Zambia to Victoria Falls Bridge in Zimbabwe and back to the starting point totaling 150 kilometres.

Masire explained that while the race was 150km for elite riders, there would be other categories for leisure ranging from 10km-50km and the children’s category for those as young as three years labeled family affair.

He said while elite racers would get prizes while those for leisure would only get medals for completing.

He clarified that as a way of adhering to COVID-19 protocols, the race would be staggered with 50 participants per stage, while the racers would be judged based on the time they took to complete the race.

He said registration for the race would be done on-line at www.kicc.co.bw and at cycling shops around the country. He revealed that the race also had a Facebook page: Kazungula International Cycling Challenge, where most of the details are shared.

He said as part of the corporate social responsibility, KICC would donate a bicycle to the best performing pupil in completing classes such as Standard 7, Form 3 and Form 5 and will also adopt a school.

Masire said the sponsors of the KICC are Emergency Assist, Vincent Excellent Tours and Halfway Toyota in Kasane, adding that more sponsors would be revealed as they come onboard.

Chobe District Council chairperson,  Amos Mabuku said the partnership was important as it would help brand the district.

Mabuku said the challenge had potential for economic benefit for the people of Chobe in terms of hospitality, travel and tourism, entertainment and catering.

He said the district was not doing well in sports due to lack of a stadia, but the race would indeed revive sports and also foster cross border relations.

A representative of the Livingstone Tourism Association, Faith Shonga said the race would help promote community inclusion in Chobe and Zambezi and help the two countries identify their sports infrastructure gaps.

Shonga said she was optimistic that the race would birth other activities to boost the two regions, adding that as per the COVID-19 protocols in Zambia, those who participate in the race are expected to have either been vaccinated or have a 72-hour valid negative PCR results.

Livingstone Cycling Club representative, Peter Chombe said he was hopeful that all the five Kavango Zambezi (KAZA) countries would participate in the race.

Chombe noted that the race would help revive the tourism industry, which had been negatively affected by the outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic. ENDS