Editorial Comment: Infralink-Zinara deal : Step towards roads development

of the highway linking Plumtree, Bulawayo, Harare and Mutare.
Should it take off, the Infralink project would be the largest single infrastructural development project in many years. As a country we have not done well in infrastructure development. We have tended to be comfortable with maintaining what we inherited from the colonial government.
The last decade of economic sanctions has resulted in the near collapse of some of that infrastructure. With the economy now regaining its vibrancy, the motivation is to rehabilitate the infrastructure and keep on going. In the case of the Plumtree to Mutare highway, the easiest thing would have been to go for the cosmetic approach of patching the road.
But as Zinara chief executive Frank Chitukutuku said, this was rejected by President Mugabe who insisted that the Bulawayo to Harare highway be dualised and the rest rehabilitated. So the Infralink project is no longer just a rehabilitation project but a dualisation one.
This is visionary leadership. It doesn’t pay to make small plans. The economic benefits of dualising the highway will far outweigh the costs in the long term. The traffic on the highway justifies dualisation. Given the potential that Bulawayo and the two other Matabeleland provinces have for growth, especially now with the discovery of untapped mineral resources, these provinces will play an important role in the growth of the economy.
There will be enough traffic for any investor to recoup his money within the specified period. With nine toll plazas, which should be allowed to charge economic fees, the Infralink project will certainly be a resounding success and provide inspiration for other projects such as the Harare-Masvingo highway project, which has been on the cards for a long time.
Now that there has been a reawakening to the natural resources of the country, especially the mineral resources, it is imperative that our minds shift from maintenance to development. Our mineral resources are finite and future generations will rejoice if income from these minerals is directed to the development of infrastructure.
There is debate now on the need to create a sovereign fund to hedge against the inevitable depletion of the minerals. Most of the views have centred on a monetary fund. But others rightly question the wisdom of reposing our future on dollars, which can lose value at any time. The economic crunch in Europe and America bears testimony of the vulnerability of these major currencies to the crushing of their economies.
It therefore makes sense that the sovereign fund takes the form of infrastructure projects, which can be enjoyed ad infinitum. Business leaders, through the platform of the CEOs roundtable and the Business Council of Zimbabwe have been dreaming about building a US$100 billion dollar economy by 2040.
To achieve that dream they have pointed out the need to invest heavily in infrastructure development. Energy will drive any economic boom that Zimbabwe might be dreaming of. And so will transport infrastructure, both rail and road.
It is quite clear that the Government will have a role to play in the development of this infrastructure. But most likely there will be need for joint venture co-operation with the private sector, including foreign investors such as is happening with the Infralink Project. The energy sector is beginning to excite some of the investors with reports that companies like Essar now want to develop their own power stations to guarantee the availability of the power they need for their business.
Recently we have also seen Transport, Communications and Infrastructural Development Minister Nicholas Goche and Finance Minister Tendai Biti working closely in raising funding for infrastructure development. They were recently in Brazil on a mission to lure investors for this key sector of our economy.
We expect to see in the next few years a lot of movement in terms of new infrastructure development projects.