The Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) has granted a R1.4-billion loan to a joint venture (JV) focusing on road rehabilitation and tolling initiatives in Zimbabwe.

Infralink, a 70:30 JV between the Zimbabwe National Road Administration and South Africa-based construction firm Group Five, aimed to rehabilitate and implement tolling of 801 km of the existing national road network linking Harare and Bulawayo, as well as Mutare, near the Mozambique border, and Plumtree, on the Botswana border.

The road upgrade and tolling project would create about 800 direct jobs and had the potential to improve Zimbabwe’s access to foreign direct investment, the DBSA said in a statement.

The bank added that the Zimbabwean Ministries of Transport and Finance had sanctioned the introduction of project-specific tolling and other transport-related revenue for Infralink to fund its debt obligations.

The upgraded routes were expected to enable cost-effective movement of goods and persons within the country, as well as enhance regional integration by linking Southern Africa Development Community trade corridors through neighbouring Mozambique and Botswana.