Business Correspondent
The ambitious US$3 billion Harare Light Rail Project has taken a major step toward realization following the successful completion of a comprehensive due diligence appraisal by the Africa Finance Corporation (AFC).
The pan-African multilateral institution’s evaluation verified the project’s technical viability, institutional readiness, and commercial bankability, bringing Zimbabwe’s largest-ever urban public transit investment closer to groundbreaking.
The Harare City Council is currently clearing the final regulatory hurdles with Harare Acting Town Clerk Advocate Warren Chiwawa, saying the municipality is finalizing legal and framework documents while coordinating approvals across key institutions, including the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA), the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works, the Ministry of Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion, and the Mutapa Investment Fund.
Already granted National Project Status and approved by ZIDA, the light rail network holds strategic national priority.
This designation streamlines regulatory processes and ensures direct government backing. The city has also made significant headway in securing investment commitments to fund the capital-intensive preparation phase, which will cover engineering designs, passenger demand modeling, environmental impact assessments, and financial structuring.
Designed to revolutionize mobility across Greater Harare, the battery-powered, renewable-energy-assisted light rail system will run along dedicated corridors to bypass the capital’s heavy road congestion. The multi-billion-dollar infrastructure effort is structured across five distinct execution phases, moving sequentially from the Central Business District to Kuwadzana in the first phase, extending through Highfield to Chitungwiza in the second, and linking the city centre with Mabvuku-Tafara in the third.
The fourth phase will establish a rapid transit link between Cranborne and the Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport, culminating in a fifth phase that connects Kuwadzana to the New City under development in Mt Hampden.
