Source: Zinara on course to clear US$11,6m loan by year end – herald
Dr George ManyayaFreeman Razemba
Senior Reporter
THE rehabilitation of the Plumtree-Mutare Highway between 2012 and 2015 and dualisation of key sections will be fully paid for by the end of the year when the Zimbabwe National Road Administration settles the US$11,6 million debt still owed to the Development Bank of Southern Africa.
Zinara had initially accumulated a US$206 million debt with the bank for the reconstruction and construction work on the 880km of highway. This was the last major roadwork undertaken by a foreign company.
The Plumtree-Mutare construction was carried out by Group Five of South Africa, which has since gone into liquidation. Following the completion of the highway, Zinara and Intertoll (owned by Group Five) formed Infralink under a 70/30 shareholding arrangement to manage 10 tollgates along the highway, contributing to loan repayment and road maintenance.
Speaking on the sidelines of the ninth session of the Line Minister’s Public Entities Corporate Governance Oversight meeting in Bulawayo at the weekend, Zinara board chair Dr George Manyaya confirmed the positive developments.
“The most important thing that we need when you are collecting revenue is funding. The challenge that we have had in Zimbabwe is the creditworthiness of our country. But through the coming of the new dispensation, you noted that the President and the Minister (Felix Mhona) actually advised us that we must be seen to be paying all our credits, be it international or national,” said Dr Manyaya.
“When we took over Zinara we were owing almost US$50 million to DBSA. Last year, when we came to this conference, we were left with US$26 million. But I must say that as of today, as you heard in the presentation, we are left with US$11,6 million, and by the end of December this year, we will be at zero.”
Dr Manyaya emphasised that clearing the debt would enhance Zimbabwe’s creditworthiness and unlock new funding opportunities for other critical road infrastructure projects.
“This enables us to get funding for other roads that we need, and it is good for Zimbabwe, not only in this sector but several sectors, because it shows that Zimbabwe is creditworthy.”
Zinara has surpassed its revenue collection targets, raking in US$190 million, of which US$134 million has already been disbursed to local authorities and road authorities across the country.
“We want to thank the support that we get from His Excellency the President of the Republic of Zimbabwe, Dr Mnangagwa, and also through our Minister, Honourable Felix Mhona,” Dr Manyaya said.
“Zinara is a product of the parastatal restructuring programme, and you can see through the vision that Zinara is now a transparent organisation. To date, we have already surpassed revenue collections of around US$190 million, and the target for this year we have upped it to US$473 million. Of that US$190 million, we have already disbursed US$134 million.”
Dr Manyaya urged road authorities to submit their acquittals and collect the funds due to them. However, he noted that some road authorities had been suspended due to quality issues, weak corporate governance systems and failure to submit acquittals.
Zinara is also capacitating road authorities across the country, including the Central Mechanical Equipment Department. The relocation of the Dema tollgate is now 75 percent complete and is being transformed into a modern toll plaza.
The Department of Roads is also working on the Juru tollgate, and several other toll plazas are planned.
Dr Manyaya highlighted a major intervention to address the challenge of road authorities relying on hired equipment, which consumes a significant portion of their disbursements.
“Road authorities resort to hiring equipment, and this is where their disbursements go. But I must say that we have spoken to them, and they have given us a list of the equipment that they want. We placed a tender, and we are now going through the procurement processes, finalising the tender process. Before the end of the year, we shall be having equipment for each province, not mobile units, which is very important,” he said.
On electronic tolling, Dr Manyaya confirmed that Zinara has rolled out e-tags at 19 out of 20 tollgates.
The Zinara eTag is a radio-frequency identification electronic toll payment designed to deliver a faster, safer and convenient travel experience.
Launched in December 2024, it enables cashless, automatic toll deductions from a prepaid or linked account. Zinara is also implementing e-tolling, a cashless system that allows road users to make payments using cards or e-tags at toll gates without requiring vehicles to stop.
The system has processed over 932 000 transactions and is operational at 25 of the 29 tollgates nationwide.
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