The Ministry of Transport and Infrastructural Development, working in collaboration with the Zimbabwe National Geospatial and Space Agency (ZINGSA), has launched a Training of Trainers programme at the Mandel Training Centre, laying the groundwork for the country’s upcoming National Road Condition Survey.
The training draws together engineers, GIS officers and surveyors from the Ministry itself, as well as from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA), the Roads Infrastructure Development Agency (RIDA), and Urban and Rural District Councils nationwide. Participants are being equipped with the technical skills required to operate the newly developed Road Condition Survey System, which enables the accurate collection, verification and analysis of road condition data using Android-based technology.
The initiative brings together two institutions central to Zimbabwe’s infrastructure agenda. ZINGSA, officially launched by President Emmerson Mnangagwa in 2021 and responsible for operationalising Zimbabwe’s first satellite in November 2022, has increasingly positioned itself as a key partner in national infrastructure projects, deploying advanced geospatial technologies and precision surveying equipment in support of road, bridge and urban development work across the country. Its involvement in the Road Condition Survey reflects a broader push to embed satellite and geospatial data into everyday road planning and asset management.
The programme comes against the backdrop of a road network in urgent need of reliable, standardised data. Zimbabwe’s road network spans an estimated ninety-seven thousand kilometres, of which only a fraction has been paved to modern standards, with the majority of roads remaining unpaved or in need of rehabilitation. Government has previously set targets, under the National Development Strategy and Vision 2030 framework, to expand the proportion of roads meeting regional transport standards and to significantly increase the length of network classified in good condition.
By equipping field teams with a standardised, technology-driven survey system, the Ministry aims to strengthen the classification of road assets across the country, ensuring that engineers, councils and parastatals are working from a common, verifiable dataset. This is expected to improve data-driven planning for road rehabilitation programmes, allowing resources to be directed more precisely to the sections of network in greatest need, while also enhancing collaboration between field survey teams and the engineers responsible for design and maintenance decisions.
Officials have described the programme as another important step towards leveraging digital technologies in the management of Zimbabwe’s road infrastructure, complementing ongoing rehabilitation efforts under programmes such as the Emergency Road Rehabilitation Programme and reinforcing government’s broader ambition to build a modern, data-informed approach to national road asset management.
