Boost for Zimbabwe infrastructure

Boost for Zimbabwe infrastructure
Published: 28 May 2018
Zimbabwe has received a massive infrastructure boost after the country last week became the nineteenth member state of the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC) - the continent's leading infrastructure development finance institution.

AFC president and chief executive Andrew Alli said his organisation has already begun the process of exploring, alongside the Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ), opportunities for investment.

"We are pleased to welcome Zimbabwe as a member state of AFC. We view the ongoing political and economic renaissance positively and hope that we can contribute effectively to the revitalization of infrastructure within the country," he said.

This comes as referencing infrastructure development as being amongst the top of his agenda, President Emmerson Mnangagwa declared Zimbabwe "open for business".

Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said AFC's business model has proven that the African continent can effectively mobilise infrastructure financing by itself.

"We enjoin other African States to join the Corporation, promulgating home-grown solutions to our infrastructure challenges," he said.

Foreign Affairs minister Sibusiso Moyo noted that it was refreshing to see an African focused financing institution like AFC.

"We look forward to AFC leading the infrastructure and industrial renaissance of Zimbabwe in particular and Africa in general," he said.

IDBZ chief executive Thomas Zondo Sakala said his organisation, which has a national mandate to champion infrastructure development in Zimbabwe in the key sectors of energy, transport, housing, ICT, water and sanitation, was looking "forward to working closely with the AFC, particularly in the areas of project development, capacity building, and infrastructure delivery".

The IDBZ was recently designated by the government to be the focal and national implementing entity for Green Climate Finance and is currently undergoing accreditation to GCF — a development which makes the IDBZ an ideal partner for the AFC's entry into the Zimbabwean market.

Zimbabwe's membership in the AFC will significantly enhance the bank's resource mobilisation efforts towards funding the country's huge infrastructure needs.

AFC, an investment grade multilateral finance institution, was established in 2007 with an equity capital base of $1 billion, to be the catalyst for private sector-led infrastructure investment across Africa.

With a current balance sheet size of approximately $4,2 billion, AFC is the second highest investment grade rated multilateral financial institution in Africa with an A3/P2 (Stable outlook) rating from Moody's Investors Service.

- The Financial Gazette

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