KEY POINTS
- The layoffs at Bitumen World make Zimbabwe’s construction problems worse.
- Delays in state payments force businesses to minimize expenditures.
- The Rudland family support cushions hazards but can’t get rid of them.
Zimbabwe’s Bitumen World is laying off workers because it can’t pay its debts to the governmenThe construction company, best known for building the Harare–Masvingo expressway, is struggling as Zimbabwe’s cash flow worsens.
We don’t know how many people the company laid off, but contractors who rely on state projects face the same problem: the government doesn’t always pay on time, and when it does, the money quickly loses value.
Government delays put pressure on World of Bitumen
The pressure is direct for Bitumen World. The corporation has been cutting costs wherever it can, including payroll, because payments have been taking a long time. That means that hundreds of workers don’t know what will happen to them in the future, even as bulldozers are sitting idle on important highway projects.
The problem isn’t new. In Zimbabwe, builders and exporters are having to deal with a bad mix of currency fluctuations, unpredictable policy changes, and slow government payments.
The infrastructure sector was hurt by economic imbalances
A February move that made platinum exporters give up 30 percent of their international earnings has made liquidity even tighter. At the same time, unpaid payments and slow-moving Zimbabwe dollar (ZiG) transfers have pushed the parallel exchange rate to 35–40 per US dollar, which is far higher than the official rate of 26.4.
Some businesses, like Masimba Holdings, are already leaning toward private-sector contracts to avoid dealing with the government at all. It’s a way to stay alive, but it also makes President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s vow to construct Zimbabwe’s infrastructure with local hands seem less credible.
Bitumen World, which Rudland supports, wants to be strong
Hamish Rudland noticed Bitumen World when it became one of the leading road contractors in the country since it started in 2012. Rudland bought a share in Magister Investments in 2019, which helped the company expand into civil works and mining around the world.
Magister owns Zimre, CFI, and Tongaat Hulett, a sugar producer. Its portfolio includes logistics, agriculture, and finance. That kind of support gives you stability, but even investors with a lot of money can’t totally protect themselves from late payments from the government or a currency that won’t stay stable.
