Chronicle Editor
Senior Business Reporter
THE business community in Nkayi says it is forced to peg higher prices for goods and services as it factors in the crippling cost of expensive transport and logistics costs, which are linked to the dilapidated state of roads.
Although Nkayi District is linked to major destinations such as Bulawayo, Kwekwe, Lupane and Gokwe, the poor state of roads has made the cost of doing business more expensive.
The businesses community says private motorists and public transporters are demanding higher charges citing prohibitive wear and tear costs on their vehicles due to a damaged terrain.
In an interview in Nkayi on Monday business representatives said while efforts were being made to upgrade Bulawayo-Nkayi Road, urgent rehabilitation of Nkayi-Kwekwe Road could ease the burden for enhanced supplies to the district.
Several stakeholders also said the poor road infrastructure was driving off potential investors. The poor state of the Bulawayo-Nkayi, Nkayi-Kwekwe road dominated the 2023 national budget consultation contributions at Nkayi Business centre on Monday.
Nkayi Rural District Council chief executive officer, Mr Silibele Mpofu, said they are having challenges in attracting investors to the district.
“As council we are facing challenges to lure investors to the district. This is because of the poor road network that links Nkayi. If that is attended to, we would be in a position to attract investors,” he said.
Representing Nkayi business community, Mr Arthur Moyo, said the business community, although they regard Bulawayo as their town, they now prefer the Nkayi-Kwekwe road to be completed first.
“Nkayi has links via Kwekwe-Nkayi and Bulawayo-Nkayi roads and for us as the Nkayi community, we regard Bulawayo as our town,” he said.
“However, we are looking at relevant links as a business community without looking at the traditional aspects.
“To us, Kwekwe is very favourable because it is just 98 kilometres and if the road is completed fast it means that our procurement and stocking at the shops will take less time.
“We also see suppliers promising Nkayi to do business. At the moment the roads are a let-down,” said Mr Moyo.
He added that since the Kwekwe road leads to Harare where there is a wide choice of doing business, prices of goods would be reduced in Nkayi.
“If you want to price your goods fairly well, you have to travel to Harare to procure your stock. This is because transport costs would be reduced resulting in a reduction in the prices of goods. Once the roads are complete, we will do our business smoothly and price our goods well,” said Mr Moyo.
He also said that the Lupane-Nkayi road is another potential tourism game-changer but was being limited by a bad terrain.
“If it’s functional it means there would be an influx of tourists passing through Nkayi. Our guest lodges will get a major boost in terms of occupancy as Nkayi becomes a half-way point,” said Mr Moyo.
Other participants also stressed the need for proper road infrastructure linking the district centre with other destinations in wards. They said due to high costs of transport and logistics, some businesses now prefer selling in forex only, which closes out those with plastic money.
Due to the slow pace in rehabilitating the 158km Bulawayo-Nkayi Road, the community is now advocating for the speedy completion of Nkayi-Kwekwe road.
While the project was initiated in the early 1990s, about 50km of the road has so far been upgraded with funding constraints stalling progress.
The Second Republic led by President Mnangagwa has, however, pledged to repair the dilapidated road and ease the burden on motorists and the travelling public.
Online Reporter