HARARE – The government has approved a joint venture deal with a consortium led by construction magnate JR Goddard to develop 271.5 hectares of commercial land near Victoria Falls.
The parcel – Lot 1 of Jafuta Estate – sits within the Masuwe Special Economic Zone, which is located inside the Kavango-Zambezi Transfrontier Conservation Area, one of southern Africa’s premier tourism corridors.
Under the agreement announced following a cabinet meeting on Tuesday, the state investment arm Mosi Oa Tunya Development Company will contribute the land as equity, valued at US$25.6 million, giving government a 39 percent stake in the project. The JR Goddard (JRG) consortium will take 61 percent in return for committing US$66.9 million in infrastructure investment.
The partners will recoup profits over a 25-year period.
The Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) ran the competitive tender last year.
The consortium’s infrastructure obligations include construction of roads, a 13-kilometre water pipeline, a water treatment plant, sewerage systems, and a power substation to service the estate.
ZIDA investment promotion documents show the broader development vision for the Masuwe SEZ includes hotels, villas, flats and holiday homes at an estimated cost of US$79.8 million; core infrastructure for US$81.6 million; two medical centres at US$15 million; a commercial centre and international financial services hub worth US$17 million; a tourism and hospitality school for US$10.7 million; a golf estate for US$10 million; and a multipurpose international cricket stadium at a cost of US$7.5 million which is already under construction.
The SEZ was gazetted on September 28, 2018, with the declared objective of creating a tourism and financial services hub integrating tourism, recreation, sporting facilities, commercial amenities, and an International Finance Centre.
The JRG consortium includes project managers Sesani, civil and structural engineers Stewart Scott Zimbabwe, and financial advisors Genesis Global Finance.
It is the same grouping that is separately raising capital to build the Glass Block Dam on Umzingwane River in Matabeleland South intended to alleviate Bulawayo’s chronic water shortages.
Victoria Falls, which straddles the Zimbabwe-Zambia border, draws hundreds of thousands of tourists annually and is regarded as Zimbabwe’s most bankable tourism asset.
