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Michael Tome Business Reporter
The Infrastructure Summit and Expo 2020 is expected to kick off tomorrow in the resort town of Victoria Falls, with participants expected to exchange notes on how to tackle this regional challenge threatening economic development.

Headlining the occasion will be Minister of Transport and Infrastructure Development Joel Biggie Matiza, Energy and Power Development Minister Fortune Chasi, Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry Minister Nqobizitha Ndlovu and Africa Development Bank (ADB) executive director Judith Kateera.

This event to be attended by high ranking officials from South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe, intends to unveil various opportunities in the three countries covering a number of sectors including water and sanitation, roads and rail, tourism, housing and ICT.

Running under the theme; “Infrastructure Key to Economic Growth and Shared Prosperity”, the summit takes place in the wake of heightened power shortages in these Southern African countries, prompting scaling down of industrial capacity utilisation.

Generally, the summit will discuss issues around improvement of trade synergies, favourable policies — attracting investors for various infrastructure projects, structural challenges and solutions to ensure competitiveness.

Also expected to grace the summit are: Integrated Properties chief executive officer Mike Juru, chief executive officers from Distributed Power Africa, Liquid Telecommunications, MTN, DBSA, Exim – bank of India and Exim-bank of Russia.

Tourism infrastructure in the scenic town of   Victoria Falls requires upgrading with a view to draw more visitors for the  purpose of  growing the national tourism purse.

Consequently, the summit presents an opportunity for investors to weigh areas of potential investment in the town.

Lately, renowned business people including the Chinese billionaire Jack Ma, have signalled intention to invest in the resort “world wonder” town at the border of Zimbabwe and Zambia.

South Africa, Zambia, and Zimbabwe are also heavily involved in promoting the scenic town of  Victoria  Falls  and consequently  tourism infrastructure  needs  to  be upgraded and match international standards.

Zimbabwe, Zambia and South Africa are the main link of trade via the North-South corridor, but to maximise on the presented opportunities, these countries have to team up, create and maintain sound infrastructure.

Robust private sector investment into the energy sector and smart technology, will also feature prominently amongst the deliberations of the oncoming summit as they have lately become key in pressing for economic development according to World Bank.