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Oliver Kazunga, Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) targets to collect and mobilise $290 million in 2018 up from $202 million this year, chief executive officer, Engineer Nancy Masiyiwa-Chamisa, has said.

She said this on Tuesday while making a presentation to delegates attending a strategic planning workshop which ended in Bulawayo yesterday.

Eng Masiyiwa-Chamisa said as at September 30, 2017, they had collected $195 million.

“For 2018, we aim to collect and mobilise $290 million. What we are going to do there, we are going to roll over that $100 million bond into 2018. Once we finish the current $100 million bond, we will roll it over to 2018,” she said.

About $140.7 million of the targeted $290 million will be channelled towards funding road authorities.

“As Zinara has other obligations, the balance of $150 million will go towards other current agreements that we have such as the DBSA loan. Besides funding road authorities and DBSA loan, we also fund special and emergency projects,” she said.

The State-owned road fund this year targeted to collect $195 million in revenue and disburse $135 million to road authorities and commission a systems application programme.

Zinara revenue sources include tollgates, vehicle licencing, fuel levy, and transit fees.

“In this environment, l think it calls for innovation. As Zinara we have not just set and concentrated on our normal or traditional revenue streams.

“We have gone on the local market to mobilise funds through a $100 million bond and to date we have raised $59.7 million, which we have used to pre-fund our road authorities,” Eng Masiyiwa-Chamisa said.

Resources from the Zinara bond were used to spruce up the country’s road network half of which was damaged by the heavy rains the country recorded last year.

In 2011, Zimbabwe and the Development Bank of Southern Africa signed a $206 million loan for the rehabilitation of road infrastructure such as the Plumtree-Mutare highway.

Eng Masiyiwa-Chamisa said it was the responsibility of every stakeholder to ensure financial resources sourced by Zinara were put to good use to promote infrastructure development.

“Let’s collectively work together so that by the end of the day we have roads that are trafficable, safe and clean for all Zimbabweans,” she said. —@okazunga.