THE Hwange Local Board (HLB) is courting potential investors to explore a plethora of investment opportunities in its area across various sectors of the economy.
HLB is one of the urban local authorities in Matabeleland North Province with a mixed bag of untapped investment opportunities.
In their recent newsletter, HLB public relations officer, Mr Dumisani Nsingo said the local authority had vast investment opportunities in sectors such as tourism and mining.
“Hwange is probably one of the places in the country, which investors have not fully explored for investment opportunities yet it has quite a wide range of business prospects. Over the past few years, we have been marketing Hwange as a tourist destination, with mining activities within it so as to further entice potential investors,” he said.
Mr Nsingo said buoyed by a growing appetite for investments in coal mining and power generation over the past few years, Hwange is one of the fastest growing economies in the country.
He said in the tourism sector, the council has land set aside for the construction of a hotel as well as upmarket lodges.
“Hwange’s proximity to Victoria Falls and the Hwange National Park makes us ideal for those on an expedition to put up in our town before proceeding on their tours,” he said.
“Existence of mining and power generation activities means Hwange is constantly hosting executives and experts from these sectors and these require luxurious accommodation. Thus, those that set up hospitality facilities are definitely guaranteed of clients.”
He said Hwange urban only has one hotel, a two-star facility and a few lodges, while another opportunity exists in setting up of an upmarket conference centre, which would be a first in Matabeleland North, since the province does not have one.
Mr Nsingo said other investment opportunities exist in the manufacturing sector, through value addition of locally available resources such as coke works products, fruits (baobab, mnyii and mangoes) and fish.
“As part of HLB’s efforts of promoting the manufacturing industry, the local authority has land set aside specifically for food processing factories. Council also has land for setting-up of factories for value addition of coal as part of its efforts of creating downstream industries and employment opportunities,” he said.
Mr Nsingo said HLB also has vast land for the setting up of industries like in steel, fertiliser and cement manufacturing.
He said the huge investment in the coal-mining and power generation has led to massive employment creation.
“The growth in employment and wages gives consumers some spending power. Thus, making retailing one of the most lucrative businesses to venture into. HLB offers commercial stands for construction of retail shops including large chain-stores in all its suburbs. We also have prime land on offer at our proposed Civic Centre site where there is our proposed new Central Business District (CBD),” he said.
He said Hwange was one of the sunniest and best-irradiated area in the country and perfectly suitable for solar energy installations.
Mr Nsingo said encouraging alternative power production resources was imperative for the country to reduce its dependence on the national grid, avoid load shedding and power cuts and provide the possibility to supply communities living and working in remote off-grid areas with reliable power.
“HLB has already identified land for setting up of a solar farm and awaits interested investors to take it up.”
He said the existence of heavy mining equipment and other ancillary components, tourism players’ fleet of vehicles as well as a heavy presence of cars from tourism players, including cars belonging to the public, presented investors with an opportunity to set-up automotive oils and spares shops.
Mr Nsingo said council had reserved land for the setting up of free-standing pavilions designed primarily for football, cricket, hockey and rugby.
He added: “In addition to that HLB has a soccer stadium, which is currently in a bad state and needs refurbishment to meet minimum requirements and standards to host local premiership matches. Council is courting investors for the establishment of these sporting and recreational facilities through Public-Private Partnership or Build Operate and Transfer arrangements.”
Source Zimsituation
