Online Reporter
ZIMBABWE last week added another jewel in its crown when President Mnangagwa officially opened the Trabablas Interchange, which becomes the country’s biggest.
It is a huge milestone for a country that is presently charting its own path after international financers turned their back on Harare.
Resources for such huge undertakings, particularly for a project that not only benefits Zimbabwe but also the region and the African continent, would have ordinarily come from international financial institutions such as the World Bank, through the International Development Association.
Negotiating for such facilities would have been painstaking.
Most crucially, once approved, the funds would have changed hands in Western capitals between the financiers and contractors — always foreign — for the project.
However, in this instance, Harare, which is still under the yoke of unilateral and illegal sanctions, has had to dig deep and mobilise its own resources, rope in local contractors and embark on one of the most ambitious infrastructure development projects in recent history.
Under the deliberate policy of the Second Republic — of course born out of convenience and a genuine and noble desire to empower locals — local contractors under the umbrella of Tefoma, a consortium constituted by Tensor Construction, Fossil Contracting and Masimba Holdings, have benefitted immensely.
In addition to gaining the much-needed expertise, they have been able to buy modern equipment, positioning them to undertake future projects, both within and without Zimbabwe, with ease.
It is not inconceivable that some of the companies will gain the critical mass to consider venturing into projects in the region, if they are not entertaining the idea already.
It is also heartening to learn that the materials for the project were similarly sourced from the local market.
So, it is safe to say, little, if any, resources flowed outside Zimbabwe.
This is as remarkable as it is visionary.
We deserve to pat ourselves on the back.
Far from being just another infrastructure project, the Trabablas Interchange now stands as a bold statement from Zimbabwe that is cast in concrete.
It projects the country’s capacity, capability, aspirations and bold ambition.
“We are delivering. This is real, here in Zimbabwe. We have done it,” President Mnangagwa declared when he officially opened the interchange on Friday.
“These abundant skills in our great motherland, Zimbabwe, should now be deployed for the modernisation of infrastructure across the entire SADC region and our African continent as a whole . . . Beyond its economic value, this project has created jobs and empowered local contractors, while also showcasing Zimbabwe’s engineering prowess. Over 2 000 workers, including the youth and women, were directly employed on this project. Further, the ripple effects on downstream industries were also noteworthy, with most of the materials used being sourced and manufactured locally.”
Indeed, Zimbabwe is on the rise.
The fact that additional traffic interchanges will soon be constructed in and around the capital to address the inconveniences of a continuously rising vehicle population, driven by growing economic activities, shows that the face of both the capital and Zimbabwe is changing, in line with the Government’s modernisation drive.
Brick by brick, as President Mnangagwa would say, a new Zimbabwe is being built.
It vindicates his philosophy that a country is built by its people — Nyika inovakwa nevene vayo/Ilizwe lakhiwa ngabanikazi balo.
No foreigner will leave the comfort of their homes to come and build our country.
Zimbabweans are the ones who fought and died to liberate their country.
Zimbabweans are the ones who fought to reclaim their land.
And it will be Zimbabweans who will build a prosperous country they want and deserve.
Our numerous milestones over the past seven years — the new Parliament building in Mt Hampden, the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, the Hwange Thermal Power Station’s Units 7 and 8 — should give us the comfort, belief, assurance, confidence and determination to boldly march towards Vision 2030.
derick.khumalo
Online Reporter