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Lovemore Chikova Development Dialogue
The Second Republic has entrenched development in Zimbabwe, with all its actions geared towards the uplifting of citizens from poverty and ensuring no one and no place is left behind.
Development is no longer about slogans, but “action, action and action”, as President Mnangagwa would say.
It is not surprising, therefore, that the Second Republic has scored huge on its development scoresheet, ticking almost all boxes when it comes to the completion of mega projects.
This year, huge projects that stride across all facet of the economy and will have positive impact on several sectors are being completed.
Let us take a look at some of the major projects that will come to life this year.
Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport
Officials in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development should be no be seized with preparing invitations letters to the official opening of this expanded airport.
Work started on the project with President Mnangagwa performing the ground breaking ceremony in 2018.
The US$153 million expansion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport is on course for completion in June this year as scheduled.
As of this week, construction at the main terminal was almost complete and only a few final touches were being made, while the state-of-the-art VVIP pavilion was almost ready.
The new arrivals and departure sections will be opened to the public anytime from now, while the rehabilitation of the existing international and domestic terminal buildings will also be carried out.
Upon completion, the airport will become a regional aviation hub able to handle about six million passengers annually, from the present 2,5 million.
The new-look airport will have four new aero bridges, secondary radar system, a VIP pavilion, airfield ground lighting and a communication system, among other things.
The project involves the expansion of the current apron areas to accommodate more aerobridges to handle a wider array of aircraft, construction of a new fire station, construction of VVIP pavilion, rehabilitation, and expansion of the international terminal building, and modernisation of the domestic terminal building.
Upgrading of equipment for passenger facilitation, check-in counters, baggage handling equipment, access control, and installation of modern navigation equipment is also underway.
Lake Gwayi-Shangani
The latest update on the mega lake came from Lands, Agriculture, Fisheries, Water and Rural Development Minister, Dr Anxious Masuka, who indicated this week that it will be completed ahead of the 2023/24 summer cropping season.
Lake Gwayi-Shangani is in Hwange District, Matabeleland North Province, and is among the flagship infrastructure projects being undertaken by the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa, in its drive to foster inclusive economic transformation.
Situated about 6,5km from the confluence of Gwayi and Shangani rivers, the concrete gravity arch dam was designed and engineered by the Zimbabwe National Water Authority (Zinwa) and has a gross capacity of 650 million cubic meters.
The lake, which is 73 percent complete, is the third largest inland dam after Tugwi Mukosi and Lake Mutirikwi, both in Masvingo.
Lake Gwayi-Shangani was mooted in 1912, but implementation of the project failed to take off under the previous administrations, until the coming in of the New Dispensation in 2017.
Being part of the National Matabeleland Zambezi Water Project, the lake will, upon completion, provide a permanent water solution for Bulawayo and the Matabeleland region.
Irrigable land covering 10 000 hectares along the Gwayi-Shangani-Bulawayo pipeline has already been identified, and when the project is complete, the net result will be food security in these areas.
Harare-Beitbridge Highway
Nothing is envisaged to stop completion of the upgrading of the Harare-Beitbridge Highway this year, with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development indicating last week that at least 400km of the 580km stretch had been completed and opened to traffic.
This leaves only 180km on which contractors are working ahead of schedule to complete one of the largest infrastructure developments since the advent of the Second Republic.
The construction work on the Harare-Beitbridge Highway involves laying a completely new surface on the almost 600-kilometre stretch.
The highway is being widened from seven metres to 12,5 metres, with clearly marked lanes that make driving an enjoyable experience.
Five local companies were contracted to undertake the work: Tensor Systems, Masimba Holdings, Fossil Contracting, Exodus & Company, and Bitumen World.
Beitbridge Border Post modernisation
It was reported this week that the Government staff village comprising 220 houses for civil servants and other State employees assigned to the Beitbridge Border Post is nearing completion.
This is part of the modernised Beitbridge Border Post for which the Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa and its partners secured US$300 million to transform it as part of the general policy of making it a lot easier to do business.
The revamp and major upgrade of the border post, already far advanced, has seen the Government providing the land and technical requirements, and Zimborders pumping in the required cash, being allowed to get its return on investment over 17,5 years of border toll fees before handing over the assets to the Government.
Completed projects at the border include the freight, bus and light vehicles terminals and the Zimborders Maintenance offices, a fire suppression system, upgrading of roads.
A new state-of-the-art fire station and the sewer oxidation dam have been completed and handed over to the Government for further management.
Workers are now putting final touches to the 11,4 mega litres water reservoir and animal and plant quarantine centre.
Hwange Expansion Project
The commissioning of the Hwange Thermal Power Station Unit 7 plant is imminent following reports this week that engineers are now finalising works on the protection system that allows evacuation of power to the grid.
Unit 7 is a component of the US$1,4 billion Hwange Unit 7 and 8 expansion project whose construction began in August 2018 following a ground-breaking ceremony by President Mnangagwa.
The project scope entails addition of the two units with a combined capacity of 600MW to be added to the national grid.
When fully commissioned, the project will help Zimbabwe tame electricity imports and ease power cuts, which will drive increased industrial production with guaranteed electricity, a key economic enabler and driver towards realisation of national goals in line with Vision 2030.
US$1,5 billion Manhize steel plant
Investors at Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco) are confident they will meet their August production deadline after they have so far invested about US$500 million into the project.
The first phase of the project, which is touted as Africa’s biggest integrated steel works, will be processing 600 000 tonnes of carbon steel for both local and export markets.
The project will create 6 000 jobs directly and 30 000 others downstream while also adding impetus to the National Development Strategy 1 by fostering industrialisation and overall economic growth.
Disco, which is one of Tsingshan’s three subsidiaries in Zimbabwe, intends to build a 1 000-kilometer railway network to be used for ferrying bulk iron and steel products to the markets or ports before being exported.
Lithium mining
Lithium mining projects that were commissioned in the last few years are expected to start full production this year and are expected to have established processing plants.
This comes after Government banned the exports of raw lithium. Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, which operates Arcadia Lithium Mine in Goromonzi, is already putting final touches on its processing plant which is now over 80 percent complete.
The works are expected to be complete next month.
Completion of the construction process will mark the beginning of production, to start in the first quarter of the year.
Zimbabwe is estimated to have the largest unexploited reserve of lithium in Africa and is the sixth-largest producer in the world.
In the past year, three Chinese companies — Zhejiang Huayou Cobalt, Sinomine Resource Group and Chengxin Lithium Group — have acquired lithium projects in Zimbabwe worth a combined US$679 million, amid the worldwide race to go green.
Huayou Cobalt and Chengxin Lithium are already developing processing plants.
Online Reporter