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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau
A GROUP of Zimbabweans in the Diaspora has pulled resources together that will see them injecting close to $500m into the development of key infrastructure in the country.
It is understood that they have since set up a company, Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG) to assist and collaborate with the Government to unlock foreign capital inflows and technical solutions towards the development of critical infrastructure.
The company is made up of various economic technocrats based mainly in South Africa. DIDG executive chairman Mr Donovan Chimhandamba said their main focus was on roads, rail, water, power and communication. He said it was important to modernise the country’s critical infrastructure to radically reduce the cost of doing business not only for Zimbabwe, but for the entire region.
“If we can halve the costs of moving bulk commodities for example, you will see viable projects and localised economies emerge in remote areas that historically were deemed not viable. Currently we are working on something in the space of transport and water infrastructure space with funding in place for more than $500 million,” he said.
He also said the Diasporans came together with a common agenda of finding the most effective way to aggregate investment efforts and contribute to developing Zimbabwe. Mr Chimhandamba said the investment holding company was formed late last year and registered in South Africa, adding that they were also looking at setting base in Zimbabwe. He said the demand for efficient infrastructure is driven by global dynamics and does not rely only on domestic income or demand.
Bongani Ndlovu