Zinara secures US$400m for three strategic highways

The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has secured US$400 million through a CBZ infrastructure bond to accelerate the rehabilitation of three major highways critical to domestic economic activity and regional trade.

The funding will support works on the Beitbridge-Harare, Harare-Chirundu and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highways, which connect production centres, border posts, commercial hubs and key tourism destinations.

Zinara, the parastatal responsible for mobilising and managing funds for road maintenance, said the bond was backed by ring-fenced funds and would be directed towards the specified projects rather than distributed through provincial allocations.

"The funding is mainly for the Beitbridge-Harare, Harare-Chirundu and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway projects," the administration said, adding that all three projects fall under the Department of Roads in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development.

The Beitbridge-Harare and Harare-Chirundu highways form important sections of the North-South trade corridor, which facilitates the movement of goods between Zimbabwe and regional markets. The Bulawayo-Victoria Falls route links the country's second-largest city with Matabeleland North and one of its leading tourism destinations.

The investment comes as the Government intensifies efforts to modernise transport infrastructure, with improved roads expected to lower business costs, reduce travel delays and strengthen the country's competitiveness as a regional trade and investment destination.

Reliable road networks are particularly important for mining, agriculture, manufacturing and tourism, sectors that depend on efficient transport to move raw materials, equipment, agricultural produce and finished goods to domestic and export markets.

Communities along the affected routes could also benefit from improved access to markets, healthcare, education and employment opportunities.

Meanwhile, construction on the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway has reportedly resumed, with all eight contractors back on site following months of inactivity.

Each contractor is targeting 20 kilometres of roadworks before the end of the year.

Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Nick Mangwana recently said the work was progressing in phases, covering bush clearing, detour construction, earthworks, drainage installation, surfacing and road widening.

Upon completion of the contractors' targeted year-end works, more than half of the highway is expected to be open to traffic.

The highway rehabilitation programme forms part of the Government's wider infrastructure development agenda, which seeks to improve connectivity and support its ambition of achieving upper-middle-income economy status by 2030.