CBZ Holdings plans to mobilise US$600 million to rehabilitate key highways linking Zimbabwe to regional markets.
The bank says the country’s wider road network could ultimately require as much as US$5 billion in investment, with US$75 million already secured.
CBZ chief executive officer Lawrence Nyazema was speaking during a briefing with analysts in Harare on Monday, 24 August.
He said the financial services group is preparing to deploy the first US$100 million tranche of a planned US$600 million infrastructure bond.
“We will start with the first 100 million. And if you recall, I said 75 million is already in place,” Nyazema said.
“That’s where my confidence comes from when I say we should be able to start this basing before the end of August.”
The programme will initially target the Harare-Chirundu road, the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls road and completion of the Beitbridge-Harare section, with CBZ planning to bring in regional and international financiers.
Nyazema said that about 350 kilometres of the Harare-Chirundu highway will be targeted, particularly badly deteriorated sections.
He said the project was not driven solely by financial returns, but by the need to improve infrastructure supporting economic activity and regional trade.
CBZ also intends to invest in the Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway, which Nyazema said was crucial for tourism and regional connectivity. Upgrading the more than 400km road would require about US$450 million, at roughly US$1 million per kilometre.
The first phase of the US$600 million programme will also include about US$35 million to complete the remaining section of the Beitbridge-Harare road.
Nyazema said the US$600 million will only cover the first two phases of a much larger programme.
Zimbabwe’s full road network could require as much as US$5 billion, but CBZ does not expect to raise it at once and will roll out the work in stages.
The bank plans to raise the remaining US$500 million through bond listings, including on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange and potentially a regional or international exchange, to attract foreign capital.
Nyazema said they have chosen to begin with a US$100 million tranche, of which US$75 million is already secured, rather than wait for the listing processes to be completed. The remaining US$500 million will be structured while works are underway.
CBZ expects to undertake preparatory work before the rainy season, with the larger financing package expected to be in place, or partially in place, by around February.
Nyazema said the private sector was stepping in because financing, rather than equipment or expertise, had been a major constraint to completing road projects.
More: ZimLive
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