COMESA chairmanship to open industrial window for Bulawayo

ZIMBABWE’S assumption of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) rotational chairmanship this month presents Bulawayo with a strategic opportunity to revitalise its industrial base, attract investment and position local manufacturers to tap into a regional market of more than 640 million people.

The chairmanship comes at a critical time for Bulawayo, once regarded as Zimbabwe’s industrial hub, as the city seeks to rebuild manufacturing capacity, strengthen regional value chains and expand export markets.

With its established industrial infrastructure, engineering expertise and strategic location along major regional transport corridors, Bulawayo has an opportunity to leverage Zimbabwe’s leadership of COMESA to promote investment in sectors such as manufacturing, leather and textiles, agro-processing, mining supplies, engineering, pharmaceuticals and iron and steel value chains.

City of Bulawayo Economic Development Officer, Mr Kholisani Moyo, said there were a number of opportunities in the city’s manufacturing, energy and housing sectors, among others.

“Bulawayo has an already established industrial base for beef and leather processing, engineering, steel fabrication, pharmaceuticals, cosmetics, automotive assembly, agro-processing, solar engineering and factory development.

“The city has also identified land for an industrial park and is pursuing technology transfer, joint ventures and industrial retooling. In the energy sector, the opportunities include developing solar farms, rooftop solar systems for industries and municipal buildings, floating solar installations on council water bodies, waste-to-energy projects and biogas production from wastewater treatment facilities,” he said.

He said there was also scope for investment in power-generation infrastructure and industrial energy solutions, while reliable and competitively priced electricity was particularly important to Bulawayo’s reindustrialisation.

In housing and property development, Mr Moyo said investment opportunities include low-cost housing for lower-income households, rental accommodation, regeneration of older suburbs and townhouse developments.

“The city has a backlog of more than 150 000, with its housing waiting list largely attributed to the growing population, and we are calling for investment in housing, water and sanitation.

“The council has specifically identified townhouse sites in Selborne Park, while its 2026 Ascot Precinct investment programme envisages residential townhouses as part of an approximately 60-hectare mixed-use development adjoining the CBD,” he added.

On water and sanitation, he said over the years the City of Bulawayo has been plagued by water shortages due to its arid geographical location.

Mr Moyo said the original water and wastewater infrastructure was well planned and constructed; however, operations and maintenance resources are not coping under the current economic challenges.

“Institutional and cost recovery for water and wastewater services needs to be improved urgently and concurrently with the infrastructural remedies. Most of the city’s water infrastructure is in need of rehabilitation, renewal or upgrading,” he said.

Bulawayo Business Forum Chairman, Mr Heresy Herry, said the city has been historically big in terms of engineering, steel fabrication and infrastructure as well as agriculture, among other sectors.

“These are avenues that can be looked at from a business point of view. Zimbabwe’s tenure at the helm of the regional bloc therefore provides an important platform for Bulawayo’s business community to showcase the city’s investment potential while advocating for measures that address constraints affecting industrial competitiveness and exports,” he said.

He said greater participation in regional trade could also provide local companies with opportunities to diversify beyond the domestic market, establish partnerships with businesses in other COMESA member states and integrate into regional supply and value chains.

Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) Matabeleland Chapter past vice-president and businessman, Mr Louis Herbst, said Zimbabwe’s assumption of the COMESA rotational chairmanship presents an important opportunity for Bulawayo and the wider business community to reconnect with the regional economy.

“For a city once regarded as Zimbabwe’s industrial hub, this is an opportunity to look beyond rebuilding what was lost and instead position Bulawayo as a modern production and export centre serving markets beyond Zimbabwe.

“One of the clear observations emerging from the opportunities presented through SADC, COMESA and other regional frameworks is that one of our biggest challenges is not necessarily a lack of opportunity, but a lack of awareness within the formal business sector about how to access and utilise these markets,” he said.

He said many businesses remain focused on the domestic market, often not because they lack ambition, but because they do not have sufficient information about where the opportunities are, what is required to enter those markets and how to develop sustainable export relationships.

Mr Herbst said a regional market of more than 640 million people does not require a Zimbabwean company to capture a large percentage to make a meaningful difference.

“Identifying a small number of suitable markets for a particular product or service, entering them successfully and building sustainable demand can generate additional production, employment and foreign-currency earnings.

“The opportunity is therefore not about chasing size for its own sake, but about identifying where Zimbabwean businesses can genuinely compete. This is where institutions such as ZimTrade, the Ministry of Industry and Commerce and other trade-support organisations can play a critical role,” he added.

“The COMESA chairmanship should be used to take practical information directly to business, but education should not simply consist of seminars, presentations and pamphlets. Businesses need practical workshops with representation from the specific institutions and organisations that can guide them through the process.”

He said companies should be able to sit with the relevant trade, standards, customs, financial, investment and regulatory authorities and understand, in practical terms, what mechanisms are available, what requirements they must meet and how they can develop their products and services for regional markets.

However, Mr Herbst said understanding the opportunity is only one part of the equation; access to finance and markets is equally important, particularly for smaller manufacturers and emerging businesses.

“There may be companies in Zimbabwe already producing goods and services for which there is demand in the region, but which simply do not have the financial capacity to undertake market development, establish distribution channels, meet larger orders or carry the costs associated with exporting.”

Zimbabwe is due to host the 25th COMESA Summit from 19–22 October 2026 under the theme “One Market, One Future: Advancing Inclusive Industrialisation, Investment and Regional Integration in COMESA.”

COMESA has said the summit will focus on trade, investment, industrialisation and regional value chains, giving Zimbabwe a platform to showcase investment opportunities to regional businesses and investors.