Structural Investment Bottlenecks Threaten National Infrastructure Goals, Warns ZBCA
Harare — The Zimbabwe Building Contractors Association has raised severe concerns over the vast chasm separating licensed investment commitments from actual physical construction, urging immediate policy alignment to convert paper approvals into ground execution.
Addressing delegates at the ZBCA Annual Conference 2026, Association President Dr Tinashe Manzungu emphasized that national economic transformation hinges on tangible implementation. Citing the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency 2024 Annual Report, Dr Manzungu highlighted massive proposed investments in construction-linked sectors, including US$2.02 billion in real estate, US$2.01 billion in energy, US$1.79 billion in mining, US$1.63 billion in manufacturing, and US$400 million directly in construction.
However, historical monitoring data covering January 2022 to March 2026 revealed that out of approximately US$52.97 billion in licensed investment commitments, only US$1.61 billion in monitored realized inflows were recorded. While noting that tracking was not exhaustive, Dr Manzungu stressed that the figures expose a systemic execution bottleneck.
“Investment commitments do not build roads. Investment licences do not construct houses. Actual project implementation does,” Dr Manzungu declared.
To address the deficit, ZBCA has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with ZIDA to connect licensed investment projects directly with qualified local contractors through early project matching and an audited database of technical capabilities.
“ZIDA facilitates investment. ZBCA must help turn that investment into roads, factories, buildings, houses and jobs,” Dr Manzungu noted, calling on foreign investors and government authorities to integrate domestic builders into all major capital projects.
