Judith Phiri [email protected]
THE combined Bulawayo Economic Development Conference (BEDCON) and City of Bulawayo Research and Innovation Seminar (COBRIS) 2026 kicks off on Wednesday with a strong focus on turning economic plans and research into practical projects that can accelerate the city’s industrial revival.
The three-day event, running under the theme, “The implementation imperative: Delivering sustainable prosperity through collaborative industry,” brings together policymakers, industry leaders, researchers, innovators and practitioners to develop actionable strategies for inclusive, equitable and resilient economic growth.
The conference seeks to position Bulawayo as a hub where policy, research and enterprise converge, while addressing some of the city’s longstanding challenges, including deindustrialisation, under-utilised land, ageing infrastructure, water constraints and the high cost of formalising businesses.
City of Bulawayo economic development officer Mr Kholisani Moyo said the event was deliberately designed to move the city’s economic development agenda beyond policy discussions to measurable implementation.
“BEDCON-COBRIS 2026 is strategically positioned to tackle these exact issues by shifting the focus from theoretical policy to measurable, collaborative implementation,” he said.
Mr Moyo said one of the key areas of focus would be the revival of Bulawayo’s manufacturing sector, which has experienced prolonged decline amid bureaucratic bottlenecks in land allocation and under-utilised industrial sites.
“There is an opportunity in repurposing council-owned land to establish Special Innovation Zones (SIZs) and dedicated ‘Incubation Hubs’ which enables local businesses to transition from shared workspaces into dedicated manufacturing sites,” he said.
He said statistical modelling could identify and allocate under-utilised sites for targeted economic activities such as import-substitution engineering, reducing dependence on costly imports while restoring industrial productivity.
Mr Moyo said the conference would also explore innovative ways of addressing the city’s infrastructure and water challenges, which continue to constrain industrial capacity and discourage investment.
“Designing effective public-private-community models is crucial for upgrading local infrastructure and localised distribution chains. The conference provides a platform to forge cross-sector strategies that secure innovative financing for critical development,” he said.
He said digital twin simulations could also support municipal planning by modelling infrastructure rehabilitation before capital is committed, helping authorities optimise resource distribution along high-impact economic corridors.
Another area of focus will be the formalisation of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and improving their access to markets.
Mr Moyo said the informal sector remained largely disconnected from global value chains because of the high compliance costs associated with formalisation.
“BEDCON-COBRIS 2026 emphasises rationalising the compliance cost for formalisation to build scalable, resilient SMEs, while equipping local firms with trade intelligence and standards compliance to unlock seamless continental market access through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA),” he said.
He said results-based management would help ensure that municipal ease-of-doing-business targets translated into faster SME registration, access to capital and the emergence of local firms capable of competing in export markets.
Mr Moyo said the combined conference would also seek to bridge the gap between academic research and practical industrial application.
“Anchoring the dialogue in the Quadruple Helix innovation model and Heritage-Based Education 5.0 ensures that academic abstracts and prototypes translate directly into sustainable industrial pathways and improved job creation for the city’s residents,” he said.
Youth Network Connect managing director Mr Philimon Nyirenda said BEDCON-COBRIS 2026 came at a critical time for Bulawayo as the city sought to rebuild its industrial base and attract investment.
“By uniting industry leaders, policymakers, and local stakeholders, this event will catalyse the revitalisation of Bulawayo’s industrial base, attract strategic investment and create much-needed employment opportunities,” he said.
“Ultimately, this collaborative approach will drive infrastructure development and economic diversification, cementing Bulawayo’s path toward becoming a resilient, self-sustaining industrial hub and developed city.”
Economic analyst Mr Reginald Shoko said the conference was targeting one of Bulawayo’s biggest economic weaknesses — the gap between plans and implementation.
“It gathers Government, business, academia and civil society in one room, links local research to enterprise, and supports the city’s push to be a hub for investment and innovation. Its impact depends on follow-through, though,” he said.
“Without funded, time-bound projects and public reporting, it risks ending in resolutions that stall.”
Founding and managing partner of Southern Africa Business Initiative (SABI), Mr Darlington Nyika, said the combined event was important amid growing calls to reposition Bulawayo as an industrial hub.
Mr Nyika said bringing together investment promotion and research would help identify viable projects capable of attracting the investment needed to drive economic development.
“The combined BEDCON-COBRIS 2026 presents an opportunity not only to act as a roadshow as we market Bulawayo and attract investment into the province, but it also looks at research, which is a good part of the event,” he said.
“It’s not just looking at investment, but it is looking at economic development and research. So, combined, the two, it would then address aspects that speak to the requisite investment which the province requires to develop economically.”
He said the research component could help refine concepts into “implementable, feasible, viable, sustainable, plausible and bankable projects, products, and services”.
Mr Nyika said the conference also dovetailed with recent Government policy pronouncements on the development of integrated provincial Special Economic Zones (SEZs), under which Bulawayo has been identified within a particular SEZ framework.
He said the policy direction provided an opportunity for the city to use the conference to chart a practical way forward based on its master plan and develop a comprehensive strategy and rollout plan.
