HARARE, Jul. 22 (NewsDay Live) – The ministry of transport and infrastructural development has begun training engineers, GIS officers and surveyors in digital road condition assessment technology, as the government prepares to conduct a National Road Condition Survey across a network that experts say is in critical need of investment.
The Training of Trainers programme, running at Mandel Training Centre in Harare, is being conducted in partnership with the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA) and brings together officials from the ministry, the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA), the Rural Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA), and urban and rural district councils.
Participants are being equipped to operate a new Road Condition Survey System that uses Android-based mobile technology to collect, verify and analyse road condition data in the field. The programme is designed to standardise road asset classification across institutions and improve the quality of data underpinning decisions on road rehabilitation and maintenance.
The training marks a significant shift towards evidence-based infrastructure planning at a time when Zimbabwe's roads are under acute strain. The country's road network stretches approximately 97,000 kilometres, of which only around 18,481 kilometres are paved, leaving the vast majority as gravel or earth roads susceptible to rapid deterioration. ZINARA disbursed ZiG6.1 billion for road projects in 2025/26, with more than 50,000 kilometres of roads said to have been rehabilitated or reconstructed since the rehabilitation programme began, but the scale of the backlog continues to outpace available resources.
Earlier this year, Transport Minister Felix Mhona convened a high-level meeting with stakeholders to coordinate a response to deteriorating urban roads following persistent heavy rains that left cities riddled with potholes and erosion damage. The minister has also acknowledged that drainage failures are compounding structural road deficiencies, particularly in urban areas.
The ToT programme is intended to cascade skills from trained officials to field teams across the country ahead of the full national survey rollout. Officials said the initiative would improve collaboration between field surveyors and engineers, and enable more accurate data to drive rehabilitation planning.
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ZINGSA, which was officially launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2021, has established a Continuously Operating Reference Stations network across Zimbabwe providing real-time positioning data for surveying and precision applications, and has been expanding its role in government infrastructure projects. The agency received a Presidential Innovation Award for its contributions to technological advancement in Zimbabwe.
The ministry said further announcements on the scope and timeline of the National Road Condition Survey would follow