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Amid the prevailing economic challenges and lack of funding from global lending institutions, the Government’s capacity to build new infrastructure, maintain and rehabilitate existing facilities has been greatly compromised.
Because of US sanctions, the country cannot borrow from the World Bank which offers affordable, long-term finance to build infrastructure. Because of the same sanctions, the country’s economy has been performing badly, curtailing its spending on construction of roads, railways, electricity generation and transmission projects, schools, hospitals, clinics, low-cost housing and so on.
A good number of roads countrywide are thus in a poor state while their coverage is not as extensive as necessary. The Chirundu-Harare-Beitbridge highway is a good example of a road that has been overtaken by traffic.
It is too narrow for the high volume of traffic that uses it. It is heavily potholed as well. This means that vehicles cannot travel as fast and as comfortably as they should. Accidents have become more common on the road, the country’s busiest.
Other trunk roads and most gravel roads in rural areas are very bad too.
Much work needs to be done to improve the condition and reach of the local railway network. It is replete with cautions – the rail equivalent of potholes on roads – thus slows down trains and makes the lines prone to accidents. The rolling stock is no better.
A lot is being done to expand the country’s power generation capacity. In March last year, President Mnangagwa commissioned the US$533 million Kariba South Power Station Extension Project, adding 300 megawatts to the national grid. Shortly after that, the US$1, 5 billion expansion of Hwange Thermal Power Plant started.
When complete, the coal-fired facility will produce 600MW. The work that has been done and is being done is to be commended but more investment in that direction is needed to meet energy demand in a growing economy.
In terms of access to education, the country has a backlog of around 2 000 schools. With regard to health, investment in service centres has not kept pace with rising demand in a growing population.
Because of these limitations, the Africa Development Bank estimates that Zimbabwe has an infrastructure backlog of US$30 billion. The country should invest US$2 billion yearly in infrastructure, the bank says, yet, for example, that sum was spent between 2009 and 2016.
We recognise the Government’s efforts to build new infrastructure and keep that which exists in good shape with the understanding that a sound economy runs on sound, extensive infrastructure. Major road rehabilitation programmes are ongoing across the country and a target to spruce up over 50 000 kilometres of urban and rural roads last year was set using $252 million set aside for that purpose.
Road works are in progress or are scheduled on the Lupane-Nkayi one, Bulawayo-Victoria Falls, Kamativi-Binga, Bulawayo-Beitbridge, Mberengwa-West Nicholson and Mberengwa-Mataga, among others. These and more projects had by December last year created more than 10 000 jobs.
Overall, the task is certainly huge, one that is evidently beyond the Government’s capacity at this stage, hence the effort to rope in the private sector to complement the public purse.
“It is fortunate that Zimbabwe accommodates the private sector in infrastructure development through PPPs,” Transport and Infrastructure Development Deputy Minister Fortune Chasi said at a recent African Forum Conference organised by Chartered Institute of Logistics and Transport International in Harare.
“PPPs are vital in this ministry as they bring efficiency of business to the delivery of public service and this prevents full privatisation. They allow the Government to retain ownership while private sector performs a specific function such as maintaining and operating infrastructure such as water and electricity.
“Historically, initiatives to expand the private sector started in 1990 to provide infrastructure, but were inconclusive. One of the most notable achievements was the private concession that provided rail service in 1998 on some 385 kilometres of track between Bulawayo and Beitbridge Railway by the Beitbridge Bulawayo Rail Company (BBR). This was a huge success and profit making venture at a time when the National Railways of Zimbabwe, which runs a track stretching over 2 600km, was a perennial loss maker and an albatross on the fiscus.”
At this time and under the prevailing conditions public-private partnerships (PPPs) are the surest road that our country should take towards the building of modern infrastructure. Results have been encouraging since BBR’s 1998 investment but we expect to see an intensification of work around the model.
Deputy Minister Chasi had the BBR project for special mention. He is correct. That 385km line from Bulawayo to Beitbridge is arguably the best in our country in terms of its state and usability. In addition, it has been profitable for BBR, the company that built the line and is operating it before it hands it over to the National Railways of Zimbabwe around 2029.
Now we look forward to the execution of a more extensive PPP project on our rail sector – the proposed $400 million Diaspora Infrastructure Development Group (DIDG) deal. We have no doubt that the impressive results achieved on the BBR stretch can be replicated on the entire rail network if the DIDG project takes off as planned in the next six months and delivers over its tenure.
In terms of road infrastructure, the 820km Plumtree-Bulawayo-Harare-Mutare highway is a shining result of a PPP. The Chirundu-Harare-Beitbridge highway is likely to be dualised using the same model. In the education sector, the Government recently invited the private sector to participate in building of around 2 000 schools under the same framework.
Through the PPP approach, the Government does not spend anything in building infrastructure; interested companies do and are able to recover their money through user fees. This allows authorities to channel the limited resources elsewhere while being the owner of the new infrastructure.
Companies benefit as well as they are able to secure multi-million dollar projects with guaranteed returns over a prescribed period.
Online Reporter