Zinara revenues projected to hit $136m

The Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara)'s combined revenues are projected to rise to $135,6 million for the current year, up from $133,3 million last year. The improvement in the roads authority's revenues has been consistent from 2012,  a period that coincides with the implementation of its computerisation system.

Official figures show that Zinara's overall revenue increased from $22 million in 2012 to $43,6 million in 2013 and to $95,1 million in 2014. In 2015, total revenues impelled further to $112,4 million, then to $118,4 million in 2016, and to $121,9 million in 2017.

Revenue from licence fees - which account for the largest portion of Zinara's revenues - grew from 22, 9 million in 2012 to $36,8 million in 2013 and further increased to $45,3 million in 2014.

In 2015 revenues from licence fees amounted to $53 million, largely remaining flat in 2016 at $51 million, before increasing to $54, 3 million in 2017 and to $58,2 million last year. Licence fees revenues are projected to further increase to $70,1 million this year.

In respect of toll fees - which are the second biggest contributor to the roads authority's revenues - that segment started in 2013 with a contribution to total revenues of $6,7 million, which then increased to $23,2 million in 2014, and to $34,2 million in 2015.

In 2016, toll fees' contribution to total revenues increased to $35,4 million, and increased further to $37,4 million in 2017. And last year they further increased to $41,3 million.

Zinara's technology partners - Southern Region Trading Company - maintain that the increased revenue is a result of computerisation of the roads administrator's systems. Southern Region Trading Company CEO Phil Mushosho told Members of Parliament yesterday that computerisation of the systems had resulted in a number of loopholes being plugged.

"Zinara has managed to register consistent growth in revenues because systems close loopholes and thus increase the revenue collection.

"I can give you an example of the Skyline Tollgate. On the day that we computerised Skyline Tollgate, the average revenue per day was $5 000 but that same day when we completed the computerisation, the revenue went up to $17 000.

"Did we create more vehicles? No. What we simply did was that we blocked the leakages."

Added Mushosho: "The jump that we are experiencing this year is because of some enhancements that we have put in the system. I can give you the example of vehicle licensing, there were problems with people fiddling with arrears and penalties, but now we have made the system robust so that they cannot manipulate it.  We have seen a huge rise in vehicle licensing income, although in RTGS$. We are currently 10 percent ahead of last year."

Zinara also generates income from road transit fees and radio licensing fees, the latter, which has also shown incremental growth since 2014 when the roads administrator started collecting the fees.

Radio and licensing fees have however largely remained steady since 2015.

Earlier this week, Zinara board chairman Engineer Michael Madanha said the administration had adopted a "zero tolerance" policy on corruption, adding that adequate measures have been put in place to plug financial leakages.