TITLE:
The Determinants of Private Participation in Infrastructure in Zimbabwe
AUTHORS:
Jameson Jabangwe, Gift Mugano, Amanda Van Den Berg
KEYWORDS:
Private Participation, Infrastructure, Zimbabwe, Private Capital
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.12 No.9,
September
30,
2025
ABSTRACT: The sources, tools, and methods of funding infrastructure assets must drastically change in response to the growing demand for infrastructure financing in developing nations. The same applies to Zimbabwe like other countries of the world where the attainment of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) requires investment in fundamental economic and social infrastructure in addition to the funding needs of traditional infrastructure. Amongst budgetary constraints, Zimbabwe is confronted with a significant infrastructure finance gap at a time when the country aspires to become an Upper Middle Economy by 2030. However, in comparison to its neighbours, the amount of private investment in infrastructure projects in the country is extremely small. Therefore, the main motivation of the study was to investigate ways of leveraging private capital into infrastructure finance. A nested mixed method was used for this study. While the primary data was collected through semi-structured interviews, secondary data was gathered from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and the World Bank’s development indicators online. The results of the study highlight that macroeconomic and political stability are important ingredients for the leveraging of private capital into infrastructure investment. Our findings highlight the significance of strong legal and regulatory frameworks, as well as a stable macroeconomic and political climate in the country, all of which can encourage private sector participation in infrastructure projects.