A sleeping giant awakens

founding fathers of the nation, the late Simon Muzenda, Harvard-trained lawyer, nationalist and politician, the late Eddison Zvobgo, Minister of Higher Education Stanslaus Mudenge, the late Air Marshal Josiah Tungamirai, popular singer Paul Matavire, aka Dr Love and the late Army Commander General Vitalis Zvinavashe, among others.
Masvingo town is the capital of the province, the oldest town in the country, and used to be the centre of mining and cattle ranching in the province.
Within 20 kilometres of Masvingo are the Great Zimbabwe National Monuments, Lake Mutirikwi Recreational Park and Kyle Game Resort teeming with an array of species of wild animals, including the endangered rhino.
However, the province despite having such a rich natural and human resource base is still ages behind in terms of both foreign and local investment compared to other provinces. 
The province has immense growth potential given a huge natural resource base, highly educated and skilled workforce and access to regional markets.
The majority of Masvingo province’s labour force is educated to at least four years of secondary school but is always trickling away from the province to bigger cities in search of employment.
Labour rates are very competitive in comparison with the rest of the world, and due to a high unemployment rate, skilled, semi-skilled and unskilled labour is readily available.
The majority of the labour force is English speaking.
Such integration is supported by a stock of infrastructure which includes a comprehensive road and rail network, an ever increasing provincial coverage of the electricity distribution network, an aerodrome which can be linked to national and regional destinations and a fast growing telecommunication sector.
Further growth potential comes from a sophisticated financial services sector, a growing information technology sector and a tourism sector of unparalleled potential.
It is against this background that a Zimbabwean business mogul, Nigel Chanakira, will lead a high- powered delegation of speakers to Masvingo town to host this year’s Business and Investment Opportunities Conference on September 28.
The founder of Kingdom Financial Holdings will be joined by the Town Clerk of Masvingo, Mr Adolf Gusha; Mr Simon Bere, who is the Masvingo City Council Business Advisory board member and a renowned business strategist and other high-profile speakers.
Also invited are Government officials who will be given the opportunity to make presentations.
“The purpose of the conference is to attract investors in tourism, mining, manufacturing, housing, infrastructural development, agriculture, transport, service sector, commercial sector, education, health, water and energy.
The conference will enable businesspeople to come together and share ideas on how Masvingo province and the nation can move to the next level of economic development.
The province has potential for growth given the opportunity.
“We want to market Masvingo province and the whole of the southern region to the world as the country’s most lucrative investment destination” narrated Ms Angeline Mikiri, the co-ordinator of the Business and Investment Opportunities Conference.
Mikiri said the growth of the town would help curb the exodus of school-leavers to Harare in search of jobs.
She added: “Masvingo, being centrally located in the country, is strategically positioned to be a major economic and industrial hub of the future not only of Zimbabwe, but of Sadc as a regional bloc.
“Its close proximity to the Ancient City, the Great Zimbabwe National Monuments only 27 kilometres away, which was a major economic centre of our ancestors between 13th and 14th century, is no coincidence.
“History will repeat itself this 21st century and beyond as Masvingo emerges to be a major economic centre.
“We say this because Masvingo is pregnant with both commercial and industrial land for massive investments.”
Masvingo has readily available auxiliary services and products such as good roads, abundant water, electricity, good communication network, an efficient transport system; a good sewer reticulation system.
To facilitate any economic development Masvingo has a receptive political and administrative leadership eager to facilitate any size of economic investment.
Masvingo is also surrounded by abundant raw materials such as minerals, livestock and various agricultural products.
Come and invest in Masvingo and join one of the fastest growing communities in Zimbabwe
Masvingo province’s growth is expected to be spurred by the completion of the Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam next year, a move that would result in the expansion of irrigation of sugar plantations in the Chiredzi and Triangle plantations.
Topics to be covered will include, reinvigorating the entrepreneurial spirit, getting more value out of your business and how to grow your business among other issues.
The convergence of captains of industry, small to medium entrepreneurs and Government officials upon this small town of Masvingo from all corners of the nation for the conference coinciding with the town’s Agricultural Show creates the best platform for potential investors both foreign and local to grab investment opportunities.
Great inspiration can be obtained from Mr Chanakira, who has transformed a small, four-man money broking operation into one of the largest financial services groups in Zimbabwe, with operations in Botswana and Malawi.
The company is still growing.
In late 2007, Kingdom concluded the largest merger ever undertaken on the ZSE. 
It formed Kingdom Meikles Africa through the merger of hotel chain Meikles Africa, the Tanganda Tea Company and textile firm Cotton Printers.
Zimbabwe’s Minister of Information, Communication and Technologies Nelson Chamisa invited possible investors attending a Zimbabwe Trade and Investment Conference in Fourways, Johannesburg, to consider investing in Zimbabwe.
“Zimbabweans are peace-loving people; they are hardworking, very literate and also fluent in English.
This is the time to come and invest in Zimbabwe, our country is a ready market for investment especially in the ICTs,” added Chamisa.