Chronicle Editor
Judith Phiri in Victoria Falls
GOVERNMENT will continue promoting local financiers and contractors on national projects under Public Private Partnerships (PPPs) in order to enhance their viability and rebuilding the economy.
The Second Republic under the leadership of President Mnangagwa has accelerated infrastructure development which is a critical enabler towards achieving set targets under the National Development Strategy (NDS1), the Government’s five-year economic masterplan, which spans from 2021 through to 2025 and anchor attainment of Vision 2030.
Key infrastructure development projects such as the scaling up and rehabilitation of major roads, dams and buildings among others across the country continue with most tenders being awarded to local contractors as part of rebuilding the economy.
In a speech read on behalf of the Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development, Felix Mhona by his Deputy Joshua Sacco at the 9th edition of the CEO Africa Annual Roundtable last Wednesday in Victoria Falls, he said PPPs were playing a critical part in the development of infrastructure in the country.
“Good quality infrastructure is important, not only for faster economic growth, but also to ensure inclusive growth, which will benefit the majority of the people in the country. There is need to strengthen PPPs and its framework. This principally entails creating an enabling environment through which the private sector can thrive. More so, in order to Africanise our PPPs, local financiers and contractors should be given priority on national projects.
“If you look at the Beitbridge-Harare Road, I think the country went for 10 years trying to get an Austrian investor to do that road, until President Mnangagwa made a decision that let’s go local.
“And now we are using local contractors to do that road at a fraction of the price we would have paid to the Austrian company. That’s a success story for Zimbabwe.”
He said infrastructure spending could stimulate broad macroeconomic aggregates such as GDP or total employment and at a local level, the role of infrastructural development in achieving Vision 2030 was vital.
“I would like to point out that over the past five years or so, most of the projects done, like the Beitbridge-Harare Road, have been funded by Treasury. It is not a loan. If you look at roads that were done in Chimanimani after Cyclone Idai, they were funded by Treasury. It was 100 percent funded, and this is coming from the President’s position that you eat what you kill. Do not go into debt, do not overspend from the fiscus. So, to resolve the challenge of not having lines of credit, we are looking inwards and using what we have,” he added.
He said there was need for more funding of infrastructure development in order to stimulate economic growth and development and it was important that whatever has been allocated by Treasury under the public sector investment programmes (PSIP) should be utilised optimally.
“However, due to competing priorities, the allocation of funds for road construction and infrastructure through PSIP has not always been adequate.
“Although there has been a marked improvement in the last six years, I think we can all bear witness to the roads, the bridges, the airport, the parliament, the border posts that have been built in the past five years.
“High levels of investments are required for infrastructure projects, hence the need for African pension funds, life insurance and sovereign funds,” he said.
Bongani Ndlovu