By Beaven Dhliwayo.
Harare – The infrastructural development of Zimbabwe said it expects to benefit from Government policies championed by President Emmerson Mnangagwa that are geared towards creating investor friendly policies.
Since taking over from former President Robert Mugabe last November on the back of a military intervention, Mnangagwa has been inviting local and foreign investors into the country to help jumpstart the economy.
However, President Mnangagwa’s message has been received with mixed feelings particularly by local investors who seem to have taken a fence-sitting approach waiting for the outcome of the July 30 general elections.
IDBZ Chairman, Willard Manungo said Government policies include prudent fiscal policy, re-engagement with the international community, improving the easy of doing business and pursuance of political stability.
He said the Bank’s programmes are inspired and guided by the Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Economic Transformation (ZimAsset) and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGS).
“Drawing from this compass provided in Government policy documents and the international development agenda, the Bank has remained steadfast in fulfilling its mandate of promoting economic development growth, and the improvement of the living standards of Zimbabweans through development of the national stock of infrastructure which include, but is not limited to energy, transport, water and sanitation, information communication technology (ICT) and housing,” he said.
He said the symbiotic relationship the Bank has built with the Government is delivering positive results in infrastructure delivery and gradually closing the gap in their overall infrastructure requirements to support economic growth.
He also said in line with development trends at the global stage, the Bank has embraced green financing and was nominated by Government in 2017 to be the National Implementing Entity (NIE) for the Green Climate Fund.
“Its role will be to coordinate project packaging and other activities aimed at securing funding from the GCF and other green financing sources for climate resilience projects in infrastructure space.
“In this regard the Bank is working towards being accredited to the GCF and is also exploring funding mechanisms and broaden its resource mobilization base,” he said.
Chief Executive Officer, Thomas Sakala said the Bank will continue engaging various Development Finance Institutions (DFIs) or Multilateral Development Banks (MDBs) with a view of establishing cooperation frameworks that will allow the Bank to access technical assistance and co-financing opportunities for the project preparation and implementation.
“In the medium term, it is the Bank’s objective to have some these DFIs/MDBs as strategic shareholders in line with the Bank’s recapitalisation process and leveraging Government support to bring on board private sector investment to fund our national infrastructure gap,” he said.
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