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Deliberate infrastructure policies implemented by Zimbabwe’s President H.E. Emmerson Mnangagwa has led to the country’s re-engagement with the international community, with targets set for the rehabilitation of assets associated with transport, electricity, information and communication technologies, water and sanitation, and healthcare. According to a report by the African Development Bank Group, Zimbabwe will need to invest $3.3 billion each year until 2030 in order to restore and improve its infrastructure.
Speaking in Cape Town on 11 March on sustainable financing support for critical economic and social infrastructure investment in Zimbabwe, George Guvamatanga, Secretary for Finance & Economic Development for the Zimbabwean Ministry of Finance and Economic Development, highlighted the southern African country’s potential to utilize local and international finance to drive growth and improve socioeconomic development.
“Given the development in Zimbabwe, and what has happened over the course of the past three years, we have seen significant amounts of money going into infrastructure. These have been the country’s own resources that have been channeled to major infrastructure spending, particularly towards hospital infrastructure to support the health sector given the pandemic,” stated Guvamatanga.
Highlighting Zimbabwe’s need to improve its economy in order to facilitate growth in infrastructure investment, it was noted that the government has placed priority on projects critical to public utility services in areas such as electricity supply, the provision of water, sanitation, transport, healthcare, and education.
“We have also seen investment in education, which is one of the key social services that we need to provide, and we have seen investment in dams, which will improve our agriculture,” added the Secretary, concluding, “You need a stable economy for you to actually have a stable platform to deliver on sustainable infrastructure.”
The development of Zimbabwe’s economic and social infrastructure has been seen by the Government as a means through which to promote socio economic development within the country, facilitating a platform whereby an attractive investment landscape may further improve the alignment of investments within the country’s national objectives, thus attracting financial support from a more diverse array of investors.
Nicholas Oliver, Head of Business Development at international project developer, NMS International Group, stated, “We have been working with the Ministry of Finance and with the Ministry of Health, for the last two years, putting together a health program. The flow of funds has been regular and on time and we’ve gotten about $46 million into the program, which is being used to produce hospitals around the country.”
Following Zimbabwe’s political transition in November 2017, the government has placed a focus on re-engaging with the international community to promote economic linkages to Africa, improving the country’s investment climate by enabling access to markets and reducing the costs of doing business, as well as through the integration of Zimbabwe into sub-regional markets in Africa to promote intra-regional trade.