via Govt tackles Zim-Asset bankability | The Herald August 6, 2015
MOST strategic projects in the Zim-Asset have failed to attract investors due to lack of evidence on their bankability, Finance and Economic Development Minister Patrick Chinamasa said.
The Zim-Asset, Zimbabwe’s five-year economic blueprint covering 2014-15, outlines a number of projects which are well articulated within four clusters.
Some of the projects include establishment of an avocado processing plant in Rusitu Valley in Chimanimani, dam construction, irrigation projects, road rehabilitation and water, sewer and reticulation systems.
Government has put in place measures to support the development of these projects after crafting the Joint Venture Bill, already before the Parliament, to create the legal framework for private sector participation in the implementation of the strategic projects.
Minister Chinamasa said due to lack of evidence on the bankability of the projects, there was low uptake.
He said the Government is capacitating the Treasury Infrastructure Projects
Unit to develop internal capacity to strengthen appreciation of projects bankability.
“A large number of projects in our Zim-Asset Strategic Plan do not have feasibility studies, and hence, provide very little information for Government and potential private sector investors to make sound investment decisions,” said Minister Chinamasa.
“In this regard, besides the Budget, Government is in discussion with development partners to mobilise resources towards development of projects to bankability.“
He said the Zim-Asset recognises the constraints on the Budget to mobilise adequate fiscal resources to finance the country’s infrastructure needs, hence, the need for joint venture partnerships.
“It is critical that we leverage private sector finance and bankable project preparation capacity towards supporting infrastructure through joint venture arrangements,” he added.
“This should, however, be complemented by institutional reforms and incentives to improve bankability of projects.”
Economic analysts say the fundamental problem was the projects articulated in the Zim-Asset were not bankable as they only articulate aspiration.
“Obviously, we have this situation because we don’t have feasibility studies on most of the projects,” economist Dr Gift Mugano said.
COMMENTS
ZANU = unbankable
Indigenisation = unbankable
ZimAsset is the usual zanu pf talk – hogwash, hot air, rubbish. Full of sound, yet devoid of any meaningful content.
Can anything good ever come from these zanu pf lunatics. Good for nothing idiots – who have the audacity to huff & puff about creating millions of jobs without a clue of how to create a single small-scale industry, not to mention medium to large scale. Nxaaaaaa/
What does, “He said the Government is capacitating the Treasury Infrastructure Projects Unit to develop internal capacity to strengthen appreciation of projects bankability,” mean?
A literal translation of this ZANU gibberish would be that Government is allowing the TIPU to make a stronger effort to express these projects profitability. So what does that even mean?… The ZANU-PF government is going to make more effort to show investors that Zim-Asset can be a money maker?
Well, the Chinese have already rejected it and told Mugabe to come back when he had profitable projects in hand; then they did the same to Mnangagwa. And the Chinese (and maybe the Russians) are the only parties interested in chancing their money in Zimbabwe. So why all this hot air over capacitating the capacity of the government to tell investors about their potential profits?
He later says, “In this regard, besides the Budget, Government is in discussion with development partners to mobilise resources towards development of projects to bankability.“
Ah, now we get to the crux of the matter. Chinamasa actually thinks that he can get the ball rolling with some smoke and mirrors efforts, by getting Government “capacitated,” to ask the Chinese to PAY for the feasibility studies necessary to invest more of their money!!!
Does anyone in ZANU-PF even have a clue about how to make money – other then to steal it?
I guarantee you that the Chinese will not bite. They have seen this clown car before and they know that the horse that ZANU-PF was riding on, died long ago.