mbulelo smpofu
Leonard Ncube, leonard.ncube@chronicle.co.zw
MATABELELAND North Province is seeking to consolidate its investment potential and opportunities based on available endowments to contribute to national development agenda.
The province recently hosted its Investment Conference in Victoria Falls to showcase vast business opportunities and potential in all its seven districts.
This is the second such conference following an inaugural event held exactly 12 months ago in Lupane targeting the diaspora.
The province has seven districts namely Binga, Bubi, Hwange, Lupane, Nkayi, Tsholotsho and Umguza. Victoria Falls is the only city in the province while Hwange becomes the only other urban area.
The four Local Boards are; Binga, Hwange, Lupane and Tsholotsho Local Board while the rest are rural local authorities — Binga Rural District Council, Bubi RDC, Hwange RDC, Kusile RDC, Nkayi RDC, Tsholotsho RDC and Umguza RDC.
Speaking at the conference, Matabeleland North director for Economic Affairs and Investment Mr Godfrey Mukwakwami said the occasion sought to promote investment opportunities in the province. “Investors want to come where there is infrastructure. The objective of this conference is to showcase investments that align with Sustainable Development Goals and to encourage sustainable development practices as we market Matabeleland North as an investment hub,” he said.
“The province organised the investment forum as part of efforts to unlock the massive economic potential by luring the diaspora community and potential foreign investors to tap into available opportunities.”
Matabeleland North is among the provinces with a high number of its citizens living and working in different sectors outside the country, especially South Africa, Botswana, and beyond the continent.
The conference was important for revitalising the economy by making the private sector contribute to national development to achieve an upper middle-income status by 2030.
The province has vast opportunities in mining, wildlife conservation, tourism, and farming and is home to one of the World’s Natural Wonders — Victoria Falls, and one of Africa’s biggest game parks — Hwange National Park.
During the conference, local authorities and various agencies made presentations on investment opportunities in their areas.
Discussions highlighted investment overview in the province, looking at the current investment climate, trends and challenges faced by the province.
There were presentations on public-private partnerships and opportunities in relation to infrastructure and housing, as well as available sources and ease of doing business.
With more investors already tapping into high-value projects such as coal to energy in the Hwange and Binga Districts, gold mining in Umguza District, massive irrigation projects in Umguza, Bubi and Lupane, and tourism mainly in Victoria Falls, among others, the province is expected to experience more value addition to its resources and endowments through envisaged investments, the creation of sustainable business linkages, and increased industrial output.
This week on Tuesday, President Mnangagwa led the official ground breaking of the estimated US$1 billion 720MW coal-fired power plant project in Hwange, adding impetus to numerous other projects in the province.
This year’s conference ran under the theme “Unlocking Matabeleland North’s potential: Investing in sustainable infrastructure and housing development for economic transformation”.
The Office of the President and Cabinet hosted the event, which brought together potential local or foreign investors for an interactive investment engagement through virtual and the physical platforms. By connecting the province to a wider investing audience, as well as exposure to the latest innovations, technologies and modern trends, these are expected to enhance the province’s attraction and competitiveness to the global market.
Ordinary people from Matabeleland North, whose population grew from 749 017 in 2012 to 827 645 in 2022 according to ZimStat, are the biggest beneficiaries of job opportunities and enjoyment of related social infrastructure development projects such as schools, clinics, among others. Of these, 427 632 are females while 400 013 are males.
According to the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (Zida), Matabeleland North is one of the provinces that investors are highly interested in.
Tourism, mining and energy generation are the major economic activities in the province and there are coal mining and processing companies in Hwange, as well as several gold mines in Bubi district, while tourism is spread across the seven districts because of presence of wildlife.
Despite the greater part of the province being in the ecological regions four and five, both crop and livestock farming are booming in the province. According to the beef and livestock census, the province has 695 771 cattle, with Lupane, Nkayi and Bubi having more than 100 000 each and the other districts less than 100 000.
There are 51 938 sheep in the province, 499 658 goats, 35 455 pigs, 117 889 donkeys, 177 horses, 1 181 168 poultry and 99 803 dogs.
There is potential for investment in every sector hence Matabeleland North was designated a Special Economic Zone with a bias towards tourism and financial services.
Government is courting investors to develop Masuwe City SEZ, which will be the heart of the developed concept. Zimbabwe Cricket recently committed to be the first investor for Masuwe SEZ.–@ncubeleon
