The Manhize master plan has been approved paving way for future developments.
January 16, 2024
Govt approves Manhize town plan
Patrick Chitumba-Midlands Bureau
GOVERNMENT has approved plans for the development of Manhize town in Midlands to go along with establishment of the US$1,5 billion steel plant by Dinson Iron and Steel Company (Disco).
The new town, which is set to be a game changer for the country, will be established for about 30 000 residents.
The integrated iron and steel plant being constructed in Mvuma by the Chinese firm, Disco, which is envisaged to be one of the biggest in Africa, represents a huge stepping stone in Zimbabwe’s modernisation and industrialisation agenda.
Plans are also underway for the construction of a university and a foundries centre at Manhize — a development that will result in the creation of employment for more than 20 000 people.
Riding on the fact that iron ore, the main component in steel production, has reserves lasting over 200 years, the town will not turn into a ghost town.
In an interview, Disco public relations manager Mr Joseph Shoko said plans for Manhize town are taking shape.
“Exciting times are on the horizon for the people of this area. The new town will be called Manhize, and it will have the modern style or standards of a smart city characterised by high-rising buildings, schools, a university, shops and banks,” he said.
“We are not planning on having a ghost town because the mineral resource here will last for 200 years, which is the lifespan of this steel plant. We will build a very big dam for tourism activities and even if the resource runs out, the university will still be there as well as the dam for recreational activities to attract tourists.”
Mr Shoko said the steel plant will also benefit downstream industries thereby contributing to Vision 2030.
“We are going to witness the agglomeration of industries here and there will be downstream industries that will breathe life to this area. Government has approved this town and what we are waiting for is ground-breaking ceremony on a date to be announced,” he said.
Chief Chirumanzu commended the Second Republic for spearheading socio-economic development in his area.
“I am excited to note the positive development that has been ushered in by the Second Republic under President Mnangagwa. Who would have guessed that we can have a new town in this area? This is good for us as our children are now employed and we expect more to be employed,” he said.
The first phase of production of iron and steel at the giant steelworks is scheduled to start at the end of April.
The opening moves Zimbabwe into its position of being a steel manufacturing giant and expanding the mining industry as all raw materials are mined locally.
The iron ore is very close to Manhize thus creating thousands of new jobs at the expanding steelworks and in downstream heavy industry with Zimbabwean industrialists tapping local steel.
Also, under the Second Republic, old mines which had shutdown, are being reopened, giving impetus to the attainment of an empowered upper-middle income economy by 2030.
President Mnangagwa presided over a ground-breaking ceremony at Disco two years ago paving way for construction works that started in 2022. The plant is 95 percent complete and ready for commissioning.
A subsidiary of Chinese iron and steel giant Tsingshan Holdings, the Disco plant started taking shape in June 2022, when preliminary works started on the site.
Disco is projected to produce 600 000 tonnes of products in the first phase, rising to 1,2 million tonnes in the second phase. It will then rise to 3,2 million tonnes in the third phase and ultimately 5 million tonnes per year in the final phase, supplying a full range of steel products to the Zimbabwean and international industry.
It will earn the country millions of dollars in exports as it becomes a major regional supplier and takes advantage of being located inside the Africa Continental Free Trade Area.
Products that the company will eventually produce include pipes, billets, bolts and nuts, smaller slags, rolled tubes, fences, shafts, wires and bars among others.
Among other infrastructural development projects to come as a result of the Manhize steelworks, is the construction of a 50-kilometre railway line from Mvuma to the steel plant.
Disco has also signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Government to undertake refurbishment and construction of a railway system to provide a dedicated, reliable, uninterrupted, and efficient railway line to facilitate the movement of the company’s products for local and export-imports routes.
