Zimbabwe’s capital Harare has agreed to sign a $400-million deal with a South African company to upgrade its dilapidated road network, the state-owned Herald newspaper said on Monday.
The deal would be one of the largest infrastructure investments in a country shunned by Western governments and funding institutions such as the World Bank, because of its failure to repay debt of billions of dollars.
Harare, whose affairs are run by the opposition MDC, would set up a joint venture firm, Harare Roads Development Company, with Neo Capital of South Africa to run the project for a period of 30 years, according to the Herald.
Chief Executive of Johannesburg-based Neo Capital, Vivien Natasen is due to give a response to the report, but could not be reached by Reuters for a comment.
President Robert Mugabe’s cash-strapped government says it requires $27-billion – more than twice the size of its economy – to fund a five-year plan to improve basic services and rebuild the impoverished country’s infrastructure.
By: Reuters
Read the full article here: http://www.engineeringnews.co.za/article/zimbabwe-to-sign-400m-deal-for-harare-roads-upgrade—paper-2014-03-10/rep_id:3182
