Online Reporter
Nyore Madzianike recently in Masvingo
A € 4 million state-of-the-art Great Zimbabwe Development project, inaugurated by President Mnangagwa in June 2022, is almost complete, with partners expected to hand it over to the Government within the next two months.
The project, which will see the construction of a world-class information centre, is almost 85 per cent complete, with the United Nations Office for Project Services (Unops) targeting completion of the physical structure by the end of this month.
The project is being funded by the French government through the French Development Agency (AFD), with UNESCO being responsible for software development.
UNOPS acting country director, Mr Clement Mhlanga, said they were expecting to handover the project to the government through the Department of National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe in March this year.
Mr Mhlanga said the facility is part of a broader project that will see the Great Zimbabwe monuments given a facelift that matches other world heritage sites.
“The Great Zimbabwe Development Project is a much bigger project than just the construction that you see here,” he said.
“This project is being funded by the French government, and they are funding us through the French Development Agency, the AFD, which is their development wing. Through them, we have received € 4 million to support the development of the Great Zimbabwe Development Project.
“This money has been received by UNOPS, because we are the project managers for this project, but we do not work alone. We are working with UNESCO. They are working on the software components of the project. This is hardware and software. So, all the software components are being handled by UNESCO.
“Our client for this project is the National Museums and Monuments of Zimbabwe, representing the Government of Zimbabwe. They are the ones that are advising us on what has to be done in terms of government policy and government requirements for this project.”
Mr Mhlanga said the project follows a feasibility study by the NMMZ in 2019 to ascertain how they could sustain the Great Zimbabwe heritage site.
He indicated that under the Great Zimbabwe Development Projects, they have made significant progress.
“This project here was actually launched in June of 2022 and President Mnangagwa came to launch the project,” he said.
“The project was actually a result of a feasibility study which was conducted sometime back in about 2019, September, thereabout. So, AFD was doing that feasibility study with NMMZ.
“The idea was to look at how best we can support the great Zimbabwe World Heritage Monument, maybe to improve it for us to better manage this heritage asset that we have.”
Mr Mhlanga said the feasibility study identified several areas that needed some support in terms of infrastructure.
“I think it was also established that we needed to do quite a number of things, including the construction of a visitor’s reception centre, like the one that we are building here,” he said.
“It was also established that we needed to do a car park, we needed to do pathways, and a few other things. Of course, the land use plan, and a number of other software components that we needed to support.
“So, those were established in the feasibility study, which then emanated into the four-million-euro project, which we have been implementing here. So, I also want to mention that the progress that we have registered to date is quite significant.”
Mr Mhlanga indicated that they have since done the development of the heritage impact assessment and was approved by the World Heritage Centre.
NMMZ Southern Region director Mr Lovemore Mandima described the facility as a game changer for the monuments.
“As you are aware that apart from being declared a national monument in 1937, it was proclaimed a World Heritage Site in 1986,” he said.
“That proclamation speaks to the fact that indeed Great Zimbabwe is now a gift to the world and therefore this project is going to enhance visitorship, is going to give a visitor experience which is different from what we have been offering.
“It is a one-stop shop where visitors, upon arrival at the World Heritage Site, are going to get an environment which befits that of a World Heritage Site.
“In terms of benefits, currently we are already witnessing the benefits of this project because a majority of people who are actually working on the project are drawn from the local communities and the visitor centre has a very big restaurant.
“We shall cater for all categories of our visitors, from domestic tourists, regional tourists and international tourists. That in itself does create a suitable environment for visitors who will be coming throughout the place.”
Mr Mandima said the facility will start operating during the first quarter of the year.
“We expect that when the project ends during the first quarter of 2026 and when it’s handed over officially to us by UNOPS, who are managing it, we are going to then start operationalising it,” he explained.
“But you can also see that the Shona village has also been facilitated. “We have acquired quite a number of artefacts which basically will assist in the interpretation of the village and in the understanding of Zimbabwean culture from interacting with these artefacts, which are now dotted around the huts within our village.”.
Wedge Construction director, Mr Vincent Mahofisi reaffirmed that his company will meet the project deadline.
Mr Mahofisi said they were actually left with plumping and sprucing up some sections of the building.
“We are confident that we will meet the deadline as we are already 90 percent towards completion of the facility,” he said.
“Everything is in place and we very confident the project will be handed over on the date as agreed.”
