Public Private Partnerships (PPPs), road tolling and highway infrastructure investment in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Over the last decade, developing countries have been promoting public-private partnerships (PPPs) as an alternative approach to developing infrastructure and services. This is done by utilising the efficiency and innovation of the private sector and enabling access to private-sector finance through public-private partnerships (PPP). Importantly, PPPs ensure more value for money than traditional financing options and highway and transportation infrastructure revenue sources. The study is qualitative, relied on the extensive review of written documents. In light of this, the study explores the utility and efficacy of PPPs in road tolling initiatives and highway infrastructure investment in Zimbabwe. Emphasis was placed on the PPP arrangement between the Zimbabwe National Roads Administration (ZINARA) and a South African company- Group Five, which saw road tolls being erected and operationalised to fund Zimbabwean highway infrastructure. The paper established that despite this PPP arrangement being a success, as seen by the faster completion of the trunk roads, lower project lifecycle costs, better risk allocation, faster implementation of public works and services, improved service quality and additional revenue streams a myriad of operational and administrative challenges equally dogged it. To this effect, the paper, therefore, recommends some strategies to strengthen and enhance the adoption, operationalization, and management of PPPs for road tolling and highway infrastructure investments in developing countries.