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Wallace Ruzvidzo Herald Reporter

The second Infrastructure Summit begins tomorrow, with participants set to be drawn from various local and international transport sectors.

The Second Republic has, over the years, been making concerted strides to improve transport infrastructure, in line with Vision 2030 of becoming an upper-middle income society.

Most notable transport infrastructure projects spearheaded by President Mnangagwa’s administration include the rehabilitation of roads under the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme (ERRP) and the recent completion of the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport expansion.

Efforts are underway to revive the National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ), which recently clinched a US$81,2 million deal with Indian firm RITES, for the supply of 315 wagons and nine locomotives.

The two-day infrastructure summit will be held in Victoria Falls under the theme, “Accelerating transport infrastructure projects development in Zimbabwe: Towards world-class transport networks by 2030”.

Addressing a post-Cabinet briefing yesterday, Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Minister, Monica Mutsvangwa, said discussions would centre on road, rail, and air transport.

“Cabinet wishes to inform the nation that the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development in conjunction with the National Economic Consultative Forum will be hosting the 2nd Infrastructure Summit from 20 to 21 July, 2023, at the Elephant Hills Resort, in Victoria Falls.

“Special attention will be given to the three modes of transport infrastructure in Zimbabwe, namely: road, rail and air,” she said.

Last week, NECF acting executive secretary Mr Muzi Muzite said the infrastructure indaba had generated a lot of interest from various stakeholders including Government departments, local authorities, contractors, financiers, and other beneficiaries of transport infrastructure.

He said deliberations at the summit will focus on identifying the barriers to the development, rehabilitation, and investment in transport infrastructure in Zimbabwe; policy recommendations to promote investment in transport infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe, especially the public-private-partnerships model; coming up with an effective implementation roadmap for transport infrastructure projects in Zimbabwe. They will also discuss the lessons on what has worked in Zimbabwe and how success stories can be replicated given new realities; success stories from other countries and finding ways of adapting them to the Zimbabwean context; contributions to the National Transport Policy review; and contributions to the National Infrastructure Investment Plan.

The summit follows the hosting of the first summit in 2022 wherein the stakeholders agreed to hold the summit annually.

Speakers to the event have been drawn from key players in transport infrastructure development from both the public and private sectors and these include contractors as well as financiers.

A number of speakers from international institutions are expected to grace the event.