The M18 road is a road in

Zambia Zambia, officially the Republic of Zambia, is a landlocked country at the crossroads of Central Africa, Central, Southern Africa, Southern and East Africa. It is typically referred to being in South-Central Africa or Southern Africa. It is bor ...

that connects

Kitwe Kitwe is the third largest city in terms of infrastructure development (after Lusaka and Ndola) and second largest city in terms of size and population (after Lusaka) in Zambia. With a population of 517,543 (''2010 census provisional'') Kitwe is ...

in the

Copperbelt Province Copperbelt Province is a province in Zambia which covers the mineral-rich Copperbelt, and farming and bush areas to the south. It was the backbone of the Northern Rhodesian economy during British colonial rule and fuelled the hopes of the imme ...

with Kawana (near Kasempa) in the North-Western Province via Kalulushi and

Lufwanyama Lufwanyama is a small town on the M18 road in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. Location The town lies in Lufwanyama District in the Copperbelt Province. This location lies approximately , by road, west of Kitwe, Zambia's second-largest city, ...

. It is the only other road after the T5 road that connects the towns of the North-Western and Copperbelt provinces. The section from Kitwe to Kalulushi is designated as the M7 road while the route from Kalulushi westwards to Kasempa District is designated as the M18 road on Zambia's road network.

M7 road

The M7 begins in the commercial city centre of

, at a roundabout junction with the T3 road (Independence Avenue) from Chingola in the north-west and

Ndola Ndola is the third largest city in Zambia in terms of size and population, with a population of 627,503 (''2022 census''), after the capital, Lusaka, and Kitwe, and the second largest in terms of infrastructure development after Lusaka. It is the I ...

in the south-east. It begins by going westwards as Kanyanta Road up to the Mindolo Road junction, where it becomes Mindolo Road towards the north-west. At the second left turn, the M7 turns westwards and goes for 6 kilometres to reach a junction with the M18 road east of Kalulushi. From the M18 junction, the M7 goes westwards for another 6 kilometres, meeting the southern terminus of the M16 road (which connects north to

Chambishi Chambishi is a town in Kalulushi District in the Copperbelt Province of Zambia. According to the 2021 Census its population stands at slightly above 11,000. It is located on the T3 road (Zambia), T3 road (Kitwe-Chingola Dual Carriageway) between ...

), to end in Kalulushi Central.

M18 road

From the M7 junction east of Kalulushi, the M18 starts by going southwards for a few metres before turning westwards to separate Kalulushi Central from the southern part of the town, where it meets a road to Southdowns Airport. From Kalulushi, the M18 goes westwards for 245 kilometres, through the rural town of

, crossing into the North-Western Province, to reach its western terminus at a junction with the M8 road in the settlement named Kawana in Kasempa District (60 kilometres north of Kasempa), with the M8 providing access to the towns of Kasempa and Kabompo in the south (&

Solwezi Solwezi is a town in Zambia. It is the provincial capital of the mineral-rich North-Western Province. Solwezi is also the administrative capital of Solwezi District, one of the eleven districts in the North-Western Province. Geography Locati ...

in the north).

Route for trucks

In order for heavy vehicles coming from

and

Lusaka Lusaka ( ) is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Zambia. It is one of the fastest-developing cities in southern Africa. Lusaka is in the southern part of the central plateau at an elevation of about . , the city's population was abo ...

(using the T3 road) to avoid the

city centre and Kitwe's northern suburbs (which are busy commercial areas) on the way to

DR Congo The Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC), also known as the DR Congo, Congo-Kinshasa, or simply the Congo (the last ambiguously also referring to the neighbouring Republic of the Congo), is a country in Central Africa. By land area, it is t ...

via Chingola, some trucks are advised to use the M7 road from Kitwe to Kalulushi, then the M16 road from Kalulushi to

, as an alternative route. Just before Chambishi, heavy vehicles rejoin the main road (T3) and proceed to Chingola.

References

Roads in Zambia Copperbelt Province {{Roads in Zambia

M7 road

M18 road

Route for trucks

See also

References