LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
Listed financial services group, ZB Financial Holdings (ZBFH) has over the past five years raised over US$200m to finance the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara)’s road network rehabilitation across the country, Business Times can report.
Zimbabwe’s road network has deteriorated because of lack of funding for routine and periodic maintenance.
Official data obtained from the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development suggest that nearly 80% of Zimbabwe’s road network is in poor condition.
ZBFH Head of Corporate Services Shadowsight Chiganze (pictured) told Business Times that the ZINARA commercial paper raised more than US$200m.
“The group has raised in excess of US$200m for ZINARA over the past five years and we are always on the lookout for any such similar opportunities,” Chiganze told Business Times.
However, several analysts said the amount of resources required to deal with the accumulated requirements for the country’s road network rehabilitation and development is enormous.
Most roads are now way beyond their design life and are in an advanced state of disrepair after being used for the past 60 years.
According to recent studies by the African Development Bank and the World Bank, Zimbabwe requires a staggering US$5bn to rehabilitate the country’s entire road network that has been affected by years of neglect.
A recent report by the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development estimates that Zimbabwe’s 95 000 kilometres (km) road network needs to be attended to.
Of these, about 17 400km tarred roads, which fall under the national government and urban authorities need to be upgraded or maintained while about 77 000km of gravel and earth roads that largely fall under the government, rural district authorities and the District Development Fund are also in need of attention.
In February 2017, the government declared that the country’s roads were a national disaster.
Consequently, road authorities including the Department of Roads, District Development Fund, urban and rural district councils, embarked on the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme to restore and expand the country’s road network to improve safety conditions on roads plagued by a scourge of traffic accidents.
But, the projects have been hampered by lack of funding in the past few months.
Last year, Zinara disbursed about ZWL$143.3m for maintenance of roads countrywide.
The department of roads in the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, District Development Fund urban and rural district councils, were the beneficiaries of the funds.
Chiganze said ZBFH also recently raised ZWL$350m for Silo Food Industries, a subsidiary of GMB, through the flotation of 182-day bills.
He said ZBFH remains an active player in the debt securities market and will in the outlook structure more debt securities for private and public sector players.
