Vusumuzi Dube
Judith Phiri, Business Reporter
THE specialised Infrastructure and Built Environment Exhibition, Africa Infrastructure and Construction Confex (AfriConfex) kicked off on a high note on Thursday, providing a key platform for the sharing of local and regional experiences and technical knowledge exchange.
The two-days event organised by the Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company in partnership with the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructure Development and is being initiated at a time when the Government has embarked on several high impact infrastructural development projects aimed at achieving a middle-class economy by 2030.
Running under the theme: “Solid Foundation. Stronger Future — Exploring Linkages in the Infrastructure Value Chain,” the event is primed to be the country’s biggest gathering of buyers and sellers within the entire built environment value chain, creating a single platform for knowledge sharing across the different sectors, sub-sectors and segments.
In an interview on the sidelines of the event, Transport and Infrastructural Development Permanent Secretary Engineer Theodius Chinyanga said investment in large-scale infrastructure projects has been and continues to be one of the cornerstones of Zimbabwe’s National Development Strategy (NDS1), which outlines the roadmap to achieve economic growth and stability.
He said the private sector and Government’s drive to improve the country’s infrastructure to sustain growth in the manufacturing sector and expand municipal utilities will continue to contribute to the growth in construction spending.
Speaking on state of the nation’s roads and development plans, Eng Chinyanga said: “There is huge potential for investment in road infrastructure development. Together we can deliver the road infrastructure that we want. Zimbabwe boasts a road network length of some 98,049km, 25,034km under District Development Fund, 18,431km under Department of Roads, 40,205km under Rural District Councils and 11,333km under Urban Local Authorities, while 3,046km is unclassified.”
He said as roads played an important role in the development of the country, Government through the Emergency Roads Rehabilitation Programme 2 (ERRP2) to run from 2021 to 2023 was addressing the condition of the road network that has over the years dilapidated.
“For all its success, ERRP2 remains a stop-gap measure aimed at preventing further deterioration of the road infrastructure network.
“Government has therefore maintained a parallel Road Development Programme, mainly focusing on the Harare-Masvingo-Beitbridge Road where 353km have since been completed and opened to traffic in the past 24 months,” added Eng Chinyanga.
He said road development plans will see the ERRP2 Phase 3 (2023) slowly usher-in the rod development programme during the third quarter of 2023 through the reconstruction of major trunk routes such as Bulawayo-Beitbridge and Harare-Chirundu roads.
Construction Industry Federation of Zimbabwe (CIFOZ) president Mr Emmanuel Chimedza said there was need to explore various overarching themes including infrastructure development, planning and policy, financing of infrastructure projects, smart transport technologies, cities of the future (smart cities), new construction and architecture technology and solutions as well as safety planning and solutions.
He said discussions at the AfriConfex should highlight cross-cutting challenges, opportunities and learnings with a view of drawing up actionable resolutions to achieve industry and economic growth.
Online Reporter