Started October 2019 and running to the year 2030: EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
>The Zimbabwe Multi-Donor Trust Fund was established in 2010 as an emergency response to a severe humanitarian crisis that manifested itself in the deadly cholera epidemic that engulfed the country in 2008/9.
The outbreak claimed more than 4,000 lives and affected more than 100,000 people. The ZimFund Donor countries responded to the outbreak of cholera by mobilizing funds for the rehabilitation of water supply and sanitation infrastructure complimented with the rehabilitation of power infrastructure. The African Development Bank (the Bank) was requested by donors and accepted to administer the Fund in accordance with the Bank’s rules and procedures and an Operational Manual that was prepared and agreed to between the Donors, the Bank and the Government of Zimbabwe (GoZ).
The size of ZimFund was determined by development partners’ willingness to contribute to it over time. By 31 October 2016, ZimFund Donor’s contributions had reached an amount of US$145.8 million, representing full settlement of donor’s commitments to the Fund. In support of a functioning infrastructure development and its contribution to the economic recovery process and people’s livelihood, the Bank approved the second phase of the Urgent Water Supply and Sanitation Rehabilitation (UWSSRP) on 7 October 2013 with a total estimated cost of US$35.99 million. However as funds were not fully available at the time of presentation of the project, only an amount of US$19.84 million was approved to cover part of the cost of the project.
The Board was informed at the time that management would come back for the approval of the remaining amount once resources were mobilized and secured from ZimFund partners. The presentation of the stage 2 financing which was the remaining amount estimated at US$16.15 million was approved on 30/09/2015. The result of the UWSSRPII project was found to be inadequate in some areas due to the unavailability of funding needed to address additional activities that surfaced during the project implementation and this had an effect on the expected outcomes and results. As a result, the POC approved USD 0.81 million to fund additional scope (Consolidation works) that is to be funded from the savings of ZimFund phase I projects. Plans have been made to implement the works for Mutare, Masvingo, Chegutu and Kwekwe.
The designs and specifications have already been completed and the preparation of the tender documents is underway. Furthermore, USD 1.70 million has been secured from interest and income earned on investment on the ZimFund accounts. Out of this amount, USD 0.94 million has been approved by the POC to finance additional consolidation works bringing the total amount for Water and Sanitation Consolidation works to USD 1.75 Million. The consolidation works will be implemented in 5 local authorities:-
- Chitungwiza, An electro mechanical hardware intervention is proposed to address the effluent pump stations that constantly breakdown.
- Chegutu, The poor water and sewerage reticulation systems will be reinforced with pipe replacements and upgrades. The booster pumping stations in the water network will also be upgraded.
- Kwekwe, The water treatment works isolation valves will be rehabilitated and replaced.
- Masvingo, a clear water pumping gear will be supplied to improve redundancy. Pipes will also be supplied to reinforce the poor water reticulation network in some high density areas. The high power consumption at the water and wastewater treatment plants in Masvingo will also be solved by power factor correction equipment to be supplied.
- Mutare’s, Dangamvura which still face water challenges because of incomplete supply pipeline, will be connected to the ZimFund rehabilitated Chikanga tank.
The processing and implementation of the consolidation project will be guided by the Operations Manual developed for ZimFund. The implementation arrangement will remain the same as those of phase II and will receive regular follow up and supervision from ZimFund Management Unit (MMU) and other GOZ structures. The POC will continue to provide the policy and strategic guidance. It is highly recommended that if the Project goals and objectives are to be met, the Project must be completed as per the original plan.
The implementation of the consolidation works will result in the Project being able to fully achieve its objectives in the identified beneficiary local authorities. The additional resources being requested will make it possible for the Project to be completed as planned. It is against this background that POC approved the consolidation financing totaling USD 1.75 (USD0.81 million and USD0.94 million on 17 March 2017 and 15 February 2018 respectively) to implement these works and now the Bank is being requested to approve the same amount for the consolidation works in line with the ZimFund implementation agreement which requires the approval by the POC and the Bank.
Let us remember that all these financing problems and shenanigans were all under the Zanu PF regime's ambit - they were in charge. Additionally, some of the objectives set in the initial 2010 reactions to the Cholera and Typhoid outbreaks are still to be implimented - until 2030 - a seemingly inordinate amount of time to execute? Added to other Infrastructure issues raised in the World Bank Assesment in 2011, this lack of prioritisation of these key issues cannot be ignored.
Typhoid and Cholera will return, as the Infrastructure programme has not been completed. At the same time as Harare expands, little provision to enlarge this programme has been addressed by the regime.
The Borgen Project report in 2016 has shown little improvements. Even in September 2021 the availability of potable {drinking} water was a crisis {again} in Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe. Human Rights Watch did a report on the ground. Again all these crises are under the eye of the Zanu PF regime - the question is- What are Zanu PF doing as a government? The issue of Infrastructure is a key responsibility of government.
The ZIDA Act is claimed to be the answer, but since its introduction in February 2020 little benefits for the general population have been observed. Indeed the candid Blog on 9th March 2020 made the following pointers.
"The ZIDA Act is an important but not the only step to attract foreign investment in Zimbabwe. Businesses will not invest in Zimbabwe solely because of the promulgation of the ZIDA Act. The government needs to address the overall investment governance framework, and restore business confidence in Zimbabwe. It should tackle economic and political challenges like currency or cash crisis, access to finance, costs of doing business, corruption, respect of rule of law, protect property rights, remove unnecessary administrative burdens to investment, and address a combination of factors contributing to the deterioration of the investment climate in Zimbabwe. The government of Zimbabwe needs to understand the expectations of the investors (beyond traditional motivations) and today’s business models then develop its investment policy environment accordingly."
