Nqobile Bhebhe
Zimpapers Business Hub
ZIMBABWE needs to mobilise large-scale private capital into rail, energy and urban infrastructure to lower the cost of doing business and support the country’s transition towards an upper-middle-income economy, the Infrastructure and Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) has said.
IDBZ chief executive officer Mr Willing Zvirevo said infrastructure bottlenecks, particularly in rail and energy, were undermining the competitiveness of local businesses and could constrain the attainment of Vision 2030 targets.
He said this on the sidelines of the ongoing Zimbabwe Economic Development Conference (ZEDCON) 2026 in Bulawayo, where infrastructure financing and development were among key issues under discussion.
“The theme of the conference is basically looking at what kind of infrastructure we need that will fit our status, our aspired status as an upper middle income society,” said Mr Zvirevo.
He said rail infrastructure had emerged as a major gap because Zimbabwe’s reliance on road transport was increasing the cost of moving goods, particularly for exporters.
“So we identified certain areas that are lagging in rail infrastructure because what is happening is that when we look at our competitiveness as a country, we are finding that our goods are quite expensive when we try to reach foreign markets with our exports,” he said.
“And a major contributor to that cost is the mode of transport that we are using.
“Most of our goods are moving on road transport and rail is much cheaper. So we need to revamp our rail infrastructure.”
