• Zimbabwe has approved 30 PPP projects worth US$7 billion since 2018, but only 13 or 43.3% have reached construction or operation
• Projects are stuck in fundraising, 6 have been cancelled, shifting focus from approvals to financial close and execution
• With updated PPP Guidelines released in March 2026, government is prioritizing project preparation and quality over simply growing the number of approvals

Harare - Zimbabwe has approved 30 Public-Private Partnership (PPP) projects with a projected investment value of US$7 billion since 2018, though fewer than half have progressed into construction or operation, placing project execution at the centre of the country’s next investment challenge.

Data presented by the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) during a media engagement forum in Harare today showed that eight PPP projects have entered operation and maintenance while five are under construction. Nine projects remain in the fundraising stage, two are negotiating contracts and six have been cancelled, providing one of the clearest institutional snapshots yet of Zimbabwe’s infrastructure investment programme.

The figures shift attention away from investment approvals towards implementation. Zimbabwe has demonstrated that it can identify infrastructure priorities, structure projects and attract investor interest. The larger policy question now concerns how efficiently those projects convert into financed, constructed and operational assets that contribute to economic growth.

Public-Private Partnerships have become one of the principal financing models used by governments around the world to develop infrastructure when fiscal resources alone cannot meet investment requirements. Under a PPP arrangement, Government and a private investor share responsibilities for financing, constructing, operating or maintaining a public asset such as a highway, power station, water treatment plant, hospital or housing development.

The private partner typically recovers its investment over time through user charges, Government payments or another agreed commercial revenue model, while Government contributes assets, land, licences or contractual support. Zimbabwe’s PPP framework requires projects to demonstrate value for money, affordability, competitive procurement and appropriate allocation of commercial and operational risks before approval.

The growing importance of PPPs reflects Zimbabwe’s infrastructure financing reality. Roads, power generation, water systems, logistics infrastructure, health facilities and urban services require investment measured in billions of United States dollars, while annual public capital budgets remain substantially smaller.

The PPP model allows Government to mobilise private capital and technical expertise without carrying the full upfront financing burden, although it does not eliminate infrastructure costs. Those costs are ultimately recovered through tolls, tariffs, service charges, lease payments or other contractual arrangements over the life of the project.

The latest portfolio illustrates both the progress and the constraints of Zimbabwe’s investment programme. Of the 30 approved projects, 13 have advanced into construction or operation, equivalent to 43.3% of approvals. Nine projects, representing 30%, remain at fundraising, while six, or one fifth of the approved portfolio, have been cancelled. The presentation does not disclose the sectors, values or reasons attached to each cancelled project, nor does it indicate whether the cumulative US$7 billion projected investment value excludes cancelled projects.

The fundraising category provides the strongest insight into where implementation challenges now reside. Project approval establishes policy support and institutional acceptance. Financial close requires something entirely different. Investors and lenders still need commercially viable revenue streams, credible demand forecasts, enforceable contracts, acceptable political and currency risk, bankable financial structures and confidence that contractual obligations will be honoured throughout the investment period. Until those conditions are satisfied, approved projects remain development opportunities rather than productive economic assets.

This distinction explains why approval statistics alone provide an incomplete picture of investment performance. Economic activity is generated when contractors mobilise equipment, workers begin construction, manufacturers receive orders, banks disburse funding and completed infrastructure starts delivering services. Project announcements create expectations. Financial close creates investment. Construction creates output. Operation creates long term economic returns.

The six cancelled projects also deserve closer scrutiny. Cancellation is not automatically evidence of policy failure. Projects can become commercially unviable, feasibility assumptions may change, investors can withdraw or procurement processes may expose structural weaknesses before significant capital is committed.

Equally, repeated cancellations can point to weaknesses in project preparation, unrealistic financial assumptions or prolonged administrative processes that discourage investors. Publishing the reasons for each cancellation would strengthen transparency and improve future project design.

The institutional framework supporting PPPs has also matured. Zimbabwe introduced updated PPP Guidelines in March 2026 that standardise project identification, feasibility assessment, procurement, appraisal, approval, contract negotiation, financial close, implementation and monitoring. The framework seeks to improve project preparation before proposals reach investors, recognising that poorly structured projects rarely attract long term private finance.

The portfolio presented by ZIDA therefore captures a programme entering a different phase of development. During its early years, success was measured by attracting investor interest and building a pipeline of projects. The next phase will be measured by how many projects reach financial close, how quickly construction progresses, whether assets begin operating on schedule and whether completed infrastructure delivers measurable economic benefits.

The presentation also illustrates a broader shift within Zimbabwe’s investment promotion strategy. Investment agencies are increasingly judged by the quality of projects reaching implementation rather than the volume of memoranda signed or approvals granted. A smaller number of financially closed projects contributes more to economic growth than a much larger pipeline that remains unable to secure funding.

Zimbabwe has established a sizeable PPP pipeline over the past six years. The next measure of success will not be the number of additional projects approved, but the speed with which the existing pipeline converts into roads carrying traffic, power plants supplying electricity, water systems serving communities and industrial facilities supporting production. The country’s infrastructure strategy has reached the point where execution, rather than ambition, will determine its economic impact.