The Sunday News
Feature, Limukani Ncube
Vivien Foster and Cecilia Briceno-Garmendia, in their booklet titled, Africa’s infrastructure: A time for transformation, say that infrastructure has been responsible for more than half of Africa’s recent improved growth performance and has the potential to contribute even more in the future.
However, they go on to note that research has shown that Africa’s infrastructure networks increasingly lag behind those of other developing countries and are characterised by missing regional links and stagnant household access. This is partly because “infrastructure services are twice as expensive as elsewhere, reflecting both dis economies of scale in production and high profit margins caused by lack of competition.
“The cost of addressing Africa’s infrastructure needs is around $93 billion a year, about one-third of which is for maintenance—more than twice the Commission for Africa’s (2005) estimate. The infrastructure challenge varies greatly by country type—fragile states face an impossible burden and resource-rich countries lag despite their wealth. A large share of Africa’s infrastructure is domestically financed, with the central government budget being the main driver of infrastructure investment.”
Experts say infrastructure is the cornerstone of any economy and it is crucial for governments to step up their investment in the sector. While the country took a lot of positive steps in terms of infrastructure development since independence in 1980, with the road network being looked at again in recent years through the rehabilitation of the 800km stretch of the Plumtree to Mutare road, recent heavy rains and flooding appear to have cut short some of the benefits in the sector.
The Plumtree-Mutare road project was undertaken after Government secured a $206 million loan facility from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to Infralink, a 70-30 a partnership between Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (Zinara) and a South African company Group Five, which was involved in the actual rebuilding of the roads.
There is no doubt that the completed Plumtree -Mutare road project, and the dualisation of the Beitbridge-Harare-Chirundu highway set to commence anytime soon after all loose ends to the deal were tied, are massive projects that have shown Government’s commitment to improve the livelihoods of people, and also touching on all four strategic clusters of the government economic blue print Zim-Asset. Road building and rehabilitation rests on the Zim-Asset cluster of infrastructure and utilities, but also touches on value addition and beneficiation, food security and nutrition, social services and poverty eradication, as an improved road network is the gate way to economic success, and the actual road works come with many spin-offs such as employment creation and other economic activities downstream in local communities.
There has also been a lot of investment in social amenities like schools and clinics, with Community Ownership Share Trusts playing a significant role in recent years, but yet again, incessant rains since the Christmas period have reversed some of the gains, with schools and clinics among the damaged infrastructure, apart from loss of human life and disruption of other services.
President Mugabe declared a national state of disaster, to allow all arms of the state and the private sector to join hands and source resources to help people affected by floods, after thousands were left homeless after floods swept away their homes, in areas like Tsholotsho in Matabeleland North, and other parts of Matabeleland South , Midlands and Masvingo provinces.
The Minister of Local Government, Public Works and National Housing, Saviour Kasukuwere, revealed that it now requires the government to partner with the private sector and non-governmental organisations to mend the destroyed infrastructure.
In addition, different Ministries have been mandated to seek resources to repair damaged infrastructure that fall under their purview. Transport and Infrastructural Development Dr Joram Gumbo said several Ministries met recently to discuss the damage that has been caused by the rains and agreed that each ministry will seek funds to rehabilitate the infrastructure that was damaged. At least five bridges in major roads have been affected, and the Government has already set in motion mechanisms to remedy the situation.
“We had an Office of the President Committee meeting …… where all ministries were present. The agenda of the meeting was to try and mobilise funds and work on the disasters caused by the rains. For example, the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education is expected to raise money to repair schools damaged by the floods, and the Ministry of Health and Child Welfare is expected to raise funds as well which will be needed to treat flood victims and so on. Our ministry has managed to raise $14,5 million out of the required $100 million which we are now distributing to rehabilitate all the roads and bridges which were destroyed by the floods,” said Dr Gumbo.
A recent World Bank study found that the poor state of infrastructure in many parts of Africa reduced national economic growth by two percentage points every year and cut business productivity by as much as 40 percent, making Africa – in spite of its enormous mineral and other natural resources – the region with the lowest productivity levels in the world. This means that a lot of effort has to be put in rehabilitating the infrastructure post the rainy season, so as to spur economic development.
Even big economies in the world, the United States and China have repeatedly said that infrastructure development has played a key role in the turnaround of their fortunes on the economic front.
With a bumper harvest expected from Command Agriculture, the road network has to be working so that farmers are able to transport their produce for delivery at the Grain Marketing Board depots dotted around the country, the silos also need attention, and tobacco farmers, who give the country the much needed foreign currency, are in the market, and they also require access to towns and cities to do business, as well as cotton farmers. This is not to suggest that there is no movement on our roads, but the gravity of the situation cannot go unnoticed, as a lot of money in needed, with the Minister of Transport saying his Ministry would need about $80 million for roads alone. Other sectors are yet to come up with conclusive figures.
“I don’t even know where to start because it’s bad everywhere. It’s actually disastrous. Roads and bridges throughout the country have been destroyed. The problem is that with the rains, we can’t even construct a road. As such, it makes our work very difficult. I am currently in the process of mobilising resources for the rebuilding of the roads and bridges. From the Ministry of Finance we need $30 million and $50 million from the banks as loans through Zinara. I am also engaging other companies in the construction sector to also chip in,” Dr Gumbo was quoted as saying.
Massive flooding often has a devastating impact on the economy and the livelihood people. Loss of human life, property damage, destruction of crops, loss of livestock, non-functioning infrastructure facilities, and the possibility of waterborne diseases are just some of the ways a flood can impact upon a community, according to recent findings, reiterates a blogger.
“The personal safety risks, reduction in purchasing power, mass migration, and loss of land value in a flood plain makes areas prone to flooding extremely vulnerable on several levels. The additional costs associated with rehabilitation, relocation of displaced people and removal of property from flood-damaged areas can also divert money that could be used in other sectors,” adds Leon Bracey, the article, the Impacts of Flooding.
The Southern African region, like the rest of the world, has in recent years been involved in a number of projects to remedy the adverse situation brought about by climate change, which brings about excessive heat, rains and drought, as experienced in recent years.
The government of Mozambique and the African Water Facility (AWF) in January entered into a grant agreement for a feasibility study on Urban Sanitation, Drainage and Solid Waste Management in Chimoio and Inhambane. The grant project is expected to improve livelihood conditions and climate change resilience for the 310 000 citizens of the Municipalities of Chimoio and Inhambane. This will be achieved by reducing the risk of flooding and improving the public health. Mozambique was also not spared from flooding, with the Inhambane Province severely impacted by the strong winds and flooding brought about by the Tropical Storm Dineo. Reports say 44 people have died and 79 000 have been affected mainly in the central and southern provinces in January. Such event, experts say, reinforce the need to mitigate the impacts of climatic disasters as the effects are aggravated by a combination of insufficient storm water drainage, sea intrusion and old and collapsed sanitation systems.
Zimbabwe and Mozambique were not the only countries in the region left with a massive task of rebuilding infrastructure after the heavy rains and flooding. In February, Botswana was hit by the tropical depression, ex-Dineo which caused significant flooding across the country. As a result of inundations, bridges collapsed, roads were closed, and health facilities have been flooded. The Government was forced to close schools in some districts to reduce the risk of children drowning. In Namibia some 23 581 learners from schools in Omusati Region were forced to stay at home as a precautionary measure taken by 67 schools that were flooded. Other infrastructure was also destroyed, giving the central government a task to source funding for rehabilitation work that was, just in the rest of countries in the region, unbudgeted for. The situation was the same elsewhere in countries like South Africa.
“The accessibility and quality of infrastructure in a region help shape domestic firms’ investment decisions and determines the region’s attractiveness to foreign investors.” That is why infrastructure rehabilitation is a number one priority in the region, albeit for now, as a result of natural disasters aka force majeure.
