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Leonard Ncube, Victoria Falls Reporter

ALL is set for the Infrastructure Summit and Expo which starts today in Victoria Falls to discuss challenges and opportunities across different sectors of economy in the region.

Delegates started arriving in Victoria Falls yesterday ahead of the summit which ends on Saturday.

It will be attended by infrastructure experts and development partners as well as Government officials from South Africa, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

The three countries are the main link of trade via the North-South corridor hence their cooperation will benefit the region.

According to the programme, key areas to be discussed include energy and power, water and sanitation, tourism, roads, rail, housing, information and communication technology infrastructure and systems development, infrastructure financing schemes, regulatory and legal frameworks as well as synergies in the three countries.

Ministers for the respective sectors in the three countries are expected to address the conference whose theme is: “Infrastructure key to economic growth and shared prosperity.”

Ministers Fortune Chasi (Energy and Power Development), Mangaliso Ndlovu (Environment, Climate, Tourism and Hospitality Industry) and Joel Biggie Matiza (Transport and Infrastructural Development) will represent Zimbabwe.

High ranking panelists from China, Indonesia, South Africa, Zambia, Russia and UK have also been invited.

Also expected to grace the summit are chief executives from Integrated Properties, Distributed Power Africa, Liquid Telecommunications, MTN, DBSA, DBZ, Exim-bank of India and Exim-bank of Russia, Eskom, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Sanlam and tourism authorities from the region.

The summit comes at a time when the region is seeking common ground on energy and power as well as ageing infrastructure challenges which has seen most countries facing heightened water and power shortages that have affected capacity utilisation and industrial growth.

The conference is an opportunity for the country and Victoria Falls in particular to take stock of its infrastructure and scout for potential investors into the tourism town’s growth. — @ncubeleon