THE Zimbabwe National Road Administration (Zinara) has set an ambitious target to license one million vehicles by the end of 2025 in a bid to boost compliance and enhance funding for road rehabilitation.
Currently, about 850 000 vehicles are licensed, while Zimbabwe’s total registered motor vehicle population stands at approximately 1,7 million.
However, Zinara estimates that only 1,2 million of these are roadworthy and eligible for licensing, highlighting a significant compliance gap.
Speaking to the Zimbabwe Independent this week, Zinara chief executive officer Nkosinathi Ncube underscored the importance of compliance, noting that vehicle licensing contributes 37% of Zinara’s total revenue.
“Vehicle licensing is a critical revenue stream constituting 37% of Zinara’s total revenue,” he said.
“By reaching one million licensed vehicles, we will not only boost compliance rate but also significantly increase the funds available for road authorities to improve our road network.”
To achieve this target, Zinara is rolling out several initiatives, including expanding access to licensing services. The agency has introduced licensing services at tollgates, providing 24-hour access.
“Since Zinara acquired the multi-agent insurance licence, we are now able to issue full licence discs at any time of the day through our tollgates,” Ncube said.
- Our hands are clean, says Zinara board
- Zinara tightens screws on unlicensed vehicles
- ED in tough Zanu PF balancing act
- Bulk of our road network in sorry state: Govt
Keep Reading
He indicated that the administration would be investing technical and technological support to capacitate agents nationwide to drive this initiative.
Ncube said Zinara would also enlist the usual support of enforcement agencies to complement efforts to ensure that motorists comply with licensing requirements. Zinara’s head of corporate communications and marketing, Tsungie Manyeza highlighted the need for increased public awareness to achieve this target.
“We are working on a multi-channel strategy to enlist the partnership of motorists onto this grand mission,” she said.
“It is a big hairy and audacious goal (BHAG), which we are very excited about, but one which we also know fully well that we cannot achieve alone.”
Manyeza said with licensing being the administration’s “cash-cow”, reaching the million mark of compliance would improve sustained
revenue growth, which will, in turn, improve service delivery in terms of road maintenance by road authorities.
