Zinara clears US$206m DBSA loan for Plumtree

The Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has paid off the US$206 million loan it took from the Development Bank of Southern Africa (DBSA) to rebuild the Plumtree–Bulawayo–Harare–Mutare highway.

Board chairperson Dr George Manyaya announced the milestone when he opened Zinara's 10th annual general meeting in Harare on Tuesday, according to Zinara's own account of the meeting and a report by ZBC News. The meeting covered the financial year to 31 December 2025.

Earlier than planned

In June, Zinara still owed the bank US$11.6 million and was aiming to reach zero by the end of December, The Herald reported at the time. Manyaya told that paper the authority had owed "almost US$50 million" when the current board took over.

"This enables us to get funding for other roads that we need, and it is good for Zimbabwe... because it shows that Zimbabwe is creditworthy," he said then.

What the loan paid for

The money financed the rebuilding of the 880km highway between 2012 and 2015, including dualised sections, The Herald reported. The road is Zimbabwe's main east–west route, linking the Botswana border at Plumtree with Mutare near Mozambique, through Bulawayo and Harare. The work was done by South Africa's Group Five, which has since gone into liquidation.

Other figures from the meeting

Zinara finance director Adam Zvandasara told the meeting that the authority had more than doubled the money it collects over the past five years, Zinara said. The share of revenue paid out to road authorities has risen to 73%, up from 49% in 2021, and outstanding debt has fallen by 38.5%, he said.

Manyaya also pointed to the equipment Zinara has given road authorities so they can do maintenance work themselves instead of hiring machines.

What we don't know yet

Whether the toll revenue that went towards the loan will now be spent on other roads, and which ones.

Sources: ZBC News (John Nhandara), 20 Oct 2026: https://www.zbcnews.co.zw/us206-million-dbsa-loan-for-plumtree-mutare-highway-cleared/ · ZBC News on X, 20 Oct 2026: https://x.com/ZBCNewsonline/status/2112500101176234395 · ZINARA on X (AGM opening), 20 Oct 2026: https://x.com/zinaraZW/status/2112464987599855680 · ZINARA on X (finance report), 20 Oct 2026: https://x.com/zinaraZW/status/2112487691631603905 · The Herald (Freeman Razemba), 23 Jun 2026, via Zimbabwe Situation: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zinara-on-course-to-clear-us116m-loan-by-year-end/ · NewZimbabwe (Leopold Munhende), 21 Oct 2026, via allAfrica: https://allafrica.com/stories/202610210025.html · ZimLive / Zimbabwe News Now, 22 Oct 2026, via Zimbabwe Situation: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zinara-eyes-new-credit-lines-after-clearing-206-million-debt/ · The Herald (Sikhumbuzo Moyo), 25 Oct 2026, via Zimbabwe Situation: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zinara-secures-us400million-for-strategic-highways/ · The Chronicle, 25 Oct 2026, via Zimbabwe Situation: https://www.zimbabwesituation.com/news/zinara-secures-us400m-for-three-strategic-highways/ · allAfrica, 25 Aug 2026: https://allafrica.com/stories/202608250154.html · The Financial Gazette, 27 Aug 2026: https://fingaz.co.zw/2026/08/27/banking-group-eyes-us500-million-infrastructure-bond/

Updates

09:00 GMT, Sunday 25 OctoberLatest

Five days after clearing the DBSA loan, Zinara has secured a US$400 million financing package to rehabilitate three major highways: Beitbridge–Harare, Harare–Chirundu and Bulawayo–Victoria Falls, The Herald and its sister paper The Chronicle reported on Sunday. The money comes through a CBZ infrastructure bond backed by Zinara's ring-fenced road funds. "The funding is mainly for the Beitbridge-Harare, Harare-Chirundu and Bulawayo-Victoria Falls highway projects. On the matter of provincial allocations, this is not applicable, as the funding is being used on the indicated road projects, which are all under the Department of Roads within the Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development," Zinara told Zimpapers. The package is not entirely new. Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube's mid-year review in July set out a US$400 million loan to be raised from local financial institutions for priority roads, repaid from Zinara collections rather than the national budget, and CBZ committed US$100 million for the Harare–Chirundu road as the first instalment in August, according to allAfrica and The Rio Times at the time. CBZ chief executive Lawrence Nyazema told The Financial Gazette in August that the bank also planned a US$500 million bond listing to fund later phases. The Herald also reports that all eight contractors are back on site on the Bulawayo–Victoria Falls road after months without work, each aiming for 20 kilometres by the end of the year. Read source

20:30 BST, Thursday 22 October

Zinara made its last payment to the DBSA on 30 September. "I would like to say that we no longer owe DBSA; we finished paying. Our last payment was on the 30th of September," board chairperson Dr George Manyaya told the AGM, NewZimbabwe reported. ZimLive puts that final instalment at US$1.3 million. The Corporate Governance Unit in the Office of the President and Cabinet said on Thursday that clearing the debt should improve Zinara's financial standing and "help unlock external funding and joint venture opportunities for further development of Zimbabwe's road infrastructure", ZimLive reported, quoting the unit's head, Allen Choruma. Caston Matewu, who chairs Parliament's Public Accounts Committee, also praised the turnaround. "The major difference now is the corporate governance," he said, according to NewZimbabwe; ZimLive carried similar remarks. Read source

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Zinara clears US$206m DBSA loan for Plumtree–Mutare highway

Earlier than planned

What the loan paid for

Other figures from the meeting

What we don't know yet

Updates

Join the conversation

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