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Golden Sibanda Senior Business Reporter
Financial advisory firm, Deat Capital, is expected to hold an innovative infrastructure financing roundtable in Bulawayo today, bringing together municipalities, industry experts and stakeholders in Government.

Infrastructure is the backbone of economies throughout the world and efficient and well-maintained infrastructure is critical in sustaining an economy. Zimbabwe’s infrastructure needs radical revamp.

The roundtable is a premier gathering offering market leaders the opportunity to meet and network with senior issuers, local and Government officials, as well as transaction participants from across the country.

High profile Government officials expected to grace the event include Finance and Economic Development Minister Mthuli Ncube and Local Government, Public Works and National Housing Minister July Moyo.

From the private sector, delegates will include Alvion Wildschutt-Prins (Development Bank of Southern Africa DBSA), Mitch Kalpey (Ernst and Young), Naa-Aku Acquaye Baddoo (SNV Zimbabwe) and Gloria Mamba (Trade and Development Bank Kenya among many others.

“The conference aims to ‘facilitate shared learning between municipalities’ through creating a platform to explore, deliberate and share ideas on innovative domestic infrastructure funding mechanisms for Zimbabwe municipalities,” Deat Capital director Nicky Moyo .

The unique conference serves as a catalyst for embracing market challenges and expressly provides valuable insights into innovative strategies of resource mobilisation by stakeholders at local Government level.

Targeted participants for the roundtable include ministers, urban planners, designers, architects, investors and financiers, pension funds and asset management, real estate developers, engineering and construction companies, municipal managers, hotel chains, retail chains, facility managers.

Sectors of low cost housing, water and sanitation, urban rail systems, airports, roads, ICTs, energy and power, inland ports and dry ports, health and education and sports and recreational development among others.

The conference will opportunities for local currency denominated lines of credit through public and private financial institutions for local government development, facilitating conducive legal and regulatory environment to promote local bond markets, municipal bonds, municipal pooled financing, municipal project finance as well as public private partnerships.

Infrastructure is considered a key component of the investment climate as it reduces the costs of doing business by enabling people to access markets as it allows the easy flow of people and movement of goods.

The World Bank in 2008 said a 10 percent increase in infrastructure development contributes 1 percent to the growth of gross domestic product in the long term. In Sub-Saharan Africa, infrastructure development has contributed about half of the recent acceleration in growth.

Zimbabwe’s infrastructure was once ranked among the best in Africa. While the basic infrastructure remains in place, the infrastructure is now a mirage of its past glory as some of it is now dilapidated. The Zimbabwean Economy has poor infrastructure which has become one of the major impediments to economic development.