adminMassive infrastructural projects have the potential to create thousands of direct jobs for the duration of the projects while in the long-term they would create more jobs in downstream industries from the use of that infrastructure.
Following years of economic decline caused by unwarranted economic sanctions, most of Zimbabwe’s vital infrastructure is in a sorry state and in need of rehabilitation or replacement.
Key transport infrastructure such as roads is heavily potholed and some sections of our highways need complete replacement while the railway network needs to be rehabilitated to facilitate quick movement of goods.
However, for a country facing an economic embargo from the West, it is difficult for the Government and other players in the private sector to mobilise financial resources to embark on major infrastructural projects despite the huge mineral resources in the country.
Because of this, the country has been forced to trudge on with infrastructure that does not bode well for economic growth.
But not all hope is lost, at least for the transport sector.
According to a story carried in yesterday’s Chronicle, a Chinese company, China Railways Corporation, has secured funding to undertake a multi-billion dollar road and railway upgrading and maintenance exercise in the country.
Under the deal, a high speed rail link will be built between Harare and Bulawayo while the highway between Beitbridge and Chirundu, passing through Harare will be dualised. The dualisation of the Harare-Beitbridge section is expected to be completed in less than 12 months.
The high speed train will take one and a half hours to cover the distance between the two cities, almost the same time taken by an aeroplane.
Under this programme, the Chinese will build a wide gauge railway line and the project will be completed in less than three years while the National Railways of Zimbabwe is expected to acquire rolling stock and signals.
The implementation of these projects will see Zimbabwe moving in sync with developments in other countries.
Transportation systems are changing the world over. In the West and in China, more people are turning to high speed trains to travel between cities while in neighbouring South Africa, the Gautrain linking Johannesburg and Pretoria has eased congestion by commuters between the cities and facilitated speedy travel between the capital and that nation’s commercial hub. This form of transport is cheaper and more convenient than air travel.
It is even more appropriate for this country when considering that there is no daily air link between its two most important cities since Air Zimbabwe stopped daily flights early this year.
Because of the poor transport link between Harare and Bulawayo and with the national air carrier virtually comatose, decision makers are not keen to make the long road trip to either city, affecting potential business deals.
The beauty about the deal with the Chinese is that investment from the Government of Zimbabwe in monetary terms would be minimal as the projects would be funded under the Build Operate and Transfer (BOT) model.
Zimbabwe has had experience with BOT deals in the past which seem to have been successfully executed. One of the first BOT initiatives was the Bulawayo-Beitbridge Railway which was built by a private investor in the mid 1990s.
BBR is still running the section of the rail link it built between Bulawayo and Beitbridge and after expiry of the concession period will hand it over to the Government.
With Government in a tight financial squeeze, maybe it should start exploring more areas where massive infrastructural investment could be taken using the BOT model through Public Private Partnerships.
Online Reporter