Zimbabwean CBZ Puts US$100 Million Into a Highway, Repaid by Tolls
ZIMBABWE · INFRASTRUCTURE
Key Facts
—The commitment: CBZ Bank has committed US$100 million towards rehabilitating the Harare-Chirundu road.
—Who said so: CBZ Holdings chief executive Lawrence Nyazema, at the group’s half-year results presentation on Monday 24 August 2026.
—The structure: Repayment is ring-fenced against collections from the national road agency, ZINARA, rather than the general budget. Ring-fenced means the toll money is legally set aside to pay this debt first.
—The wider facility: It forms the first instalment of a US$400 million loan being raised from local financial institutions for priority road projects.
—The full bill: Complete rehabilitation of the corridor is estimated at about US$900 million.
—Not yet drawn: The finance minister said on 30 July the US$100 million was secured but waiting on conditions precedent, meaning conditions that must be met before the money actually moves.
A Zimbabwean bank has committed US$100 million to rebuilding the Harare-Chirundu highway, with repayment secured against road tolls instead of the national budget. It is the first instalment of a US$400 million facility being raised from local institutions.
What has been committed to the Harare-Chirundu highway
CBZ Holdings chief executive Lawrence Nyazema announced the US$100 million at the group’s first-half results presentation on 24 August.
The road runs north from the capital to the Zambezi crossing at Chirundu, a corridor of 356 kilometres.
It is the Zimbabwean section of the North-South Corridor, the route that carries freight between South Africa, Zimbabwe, Zambia and the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
Full rehabilitation is costed at roughly US$900 million, so this is a first instalment rather than the whole answer.
The wider Beitbridge to Chirundu route runs close to a thousand kilometres in total.
The interesting part is how it is secured
Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube set out the structure in his mid-year budget review on 30 July.
An arrangement with local financial institutions would mobilise a US$400 million loan for priority road projects, of which US$100 million had already been secured.
Repayment of those loans, he said, will be ring-fenced from collections by the national road administration, ZINARA.
In plain terms, the tolls and licence fees motorists already pay are pledged to service the debt, so a default would not fall directly on the treasury.
The finance minister listed the corridor alongside the remaining stretch of the Beitbridge road and the route to Victoria Falls.
All are being financed from the same US$400 million pool.
Why a government would want it this way
Zimbabwe’s access to conventional external finance is constrained, and has been for years.
Pledging a defined revenue stream is a way of borrowing against something lenders can see and count, rather than against the state’s general promise to pay.
The same logic sits behind a US$600 million infrastructure bond CBZ presented to investors in London in July and now plans to list on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange.
The bank notes that roads carry the large majority of the country’s freight, which is what makes toll revenue steady enough to borrow against.
Pledged-revenue structures are common enough globally, but they concentrate risk on the reliability of the collecting agency.
If tolls underperform, the lender is exposed to a traffic forecast rather than to a government.
The road has a long and unhappy history
A programme to widen the wider Beitbridge to Chirundu route into a dual carriageway, two lanes in each direction, was announced in 2015 and awarded to Geiger International, an Austrian-registered contractor.
A commencement ceremony was held in May 2017, and essentially nothing followed.
Cabinet directed the ministry to begin terminating that contract in March 2018, and the work was eventually shared among five local contractors.
Works on the Harare to Chirundu section resumed in August 2024, and the difficult Makuti section, rebuilt with extra climbing lanes for heavy trucks, was completed in January this year.
The original award drew corruption allegations, and cost estimates for the programme moved by billions of dollars between versions.
Nothing was built under either early arrangement.
What to watch before treating it as money in the ground
The minister’s own wording in July was that the US$100 million was secured and awaiting fulfilment of conditions precedent.
No public document sets out the length or cost of the loan, or exactly how the toll money will be separated and held.
The road agency has its own governance history: a forensic audit in 2018 exposed significant irregularities, and ZINARA recorded its first fully clean audit, for the 2023 financial year, only in late 2024.
The cost estimate for this section has also moved, from about US$550 million when the current works began to about US$900 million now.
None of that makes the commitment unserious.
It means the announcement marks the start of a financing process rather than its completion.
A model Latin American readers will recognise
Tolls pledged against construction debt is the standard grammar of road concessions from Chile to Colombia.
It works when traffic forecasts are honest and collection is reliable, and it goes badly wrong when either assumption fails.
Zimbabwe is attempting it with domestic rather than international lenders, which limits currency risk but concentrates the exposure at home.
CBZ’s own half-year numbers show the balancing act, with deposits up 20.3% to US$1.2 billion while post-tax profit fell 18% to US$26.7 million.
The bank reported its assets rising to US$1.5 billion and one credit line repaid, with US$150 million of new credit lines secured.
Nyazema argued that inflation, not finance, has been the country’s central problem for the past two to three decades.
Domestic lenders also carry concentration risk that international lending groups can spread around.
In a banking system the size of Zimbabwe’s, a single road is a meaningful share of the book.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much is CBZ putting into the Harare-Chirundu highway?
US$100 million, announced by chief executive Lawrence Nyazema on 24 August 2026. It is the first instalment of a US$400 million facility being raised from local financial institutions.
How will the loan be repaid?
Repayment is ring-fenced against collections from Zimbabwe’s national road agency, ZINARA, meaning toll and licence revenue services the debt rather than the general budget.
How much would full rehabilitation cost?
About US$900 million for the 356-kilometre corridor, according to figures given by the government and CBZ.
Has the money been disbursed?
Not yet. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube said on 30 July 2026 that the US$100 million was secured but awaiting fulfilment of conditions precedent, the conditions that must be met before funds move.
Sources
New Zimbabwe: CBZ Bank commits US$100m for Harare-Chirundu highway rehabilitation (25 August 2026)
Zimbabwe Treasury: 2026 Mid-Term Budget and Economic Review (30 July 2026)
The Herald: CBZ to raise, list US$600m infrastructure bond (25 August 2026)
The Herald: Makuti section rehabilitation complete (January 2026)
Connected Coverage
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