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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
ZIMBABWE and South Africa have resumed negotiations to spearhead the implementation of the TransLimpopo Spatial Development Initiative (TSDI) to foster economic growth in the region.

The TSDI was mooted in 2001 when South Africa’s Limpopo province and the country’s Matabeleland North and South provinces signed a bilateral economic development pact. The idea was meant to create an economic corridor from Limpopo Province in South Africa through to Victoria Falls in Zimbabwe.

TSDI co-chairperson and prominent Bulawayo businessman Obert Sibanda told Business Chronicle: “At the moment, the TransLimpopo Spatial Development Initiative is at a stage where the work plan is supposed to have expired but we’re now resuscitating the work plan because the one that is there is the one that was supposed to have been resuscitated in 2008.

“Because of the changes that have been taking place in terms of officials, and whenever there are changes in terms of leadership, there’s a tendency of waiting for the handover and takeover and waiting for the new officials to appreciate the project. But the good thing is that the current leadership from that other side (South Africa) have taken it up and we’ve now started coming up with the new work plan”.

He said on the Zimbabwean side, stakeholders have started compiling projects and programmes adding that last month the Joint Technical Working Committee met in South Africa and agreed to come up with a proposal of the work plan.

“Under the new work plan, we’re looking at projects that we’ve in Zimbabwe especially in Matabeleland and the projects that they’ve the other side so that we put them together and market them. What’s very interesting is that there’s a lot of meeting of minds in terms of Special Economic Zones,” said Sibanda.

He said Zimbabwe has vast opportunities in areas such as mining, livestock, coal-bed methane gas, tourism and inland dry port.

“The route (Beitbridge – Bulawayo-Victoria Falls) is the one where the north—south corridor lies and because of that it has got attention from all the three trading blocs namely Sadc, East African Community and the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa. South Africans have realised that we should take advantage of that”.

Sibanda said they were now waiting for the Joint Executive Committee to approve the new work plan.

The Joint Executive Committee comprises representatives from the two countries’ business organisations as well as provincial administrators from all provinces that fall under the TransLimpopo Spatial Development Initiative.

In a landlocked country such as Zimbabwe, development corridor initiatives play a pivotal role in tapping investment and stimulating economic growth as well as doing away with political barriers.

Spatial development initiatives work programmes offer sharp catalytic interventions to facilitate investment-led growth in project areas designed by participating governments.