Features Writer
FOR more than four decades, the 15-hectare Pomona dumpsite on the outskirts of Harare was a byword for environmental neglect.
Underground fires smouldered for weeks, leachate seeped into surrounding soil, while smoke and stench made life unbearable for nearby communities.
In 2020, the Environmental Management Agency classified the waste-yard as an environmental emergency.
Today, however, that same site hosts a FIFA-certified soccer pitch, a restaurant called The Sprout and the foundations of a waste-to-energy plant designed to feed 16 to 22 megawatts (MW) into Zimbabwe’s national grid.
More remarkably, the company that engineered this transformation is now exporting its expertise across Africa.
On October 8, 2026, Geo Pomona Waste Management signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with the government of Botswana in a ceremony witnessed by President Duma Boko.
It was the company’s second such agreement on the continent following an earlier MoU with Ghana.
Namibia is reportedly considering a similar arrangement.
The message is unmistakable: A Zimbabwean solution to a Zimbabwean problem has become a continental commodity.
Geo Pomona was established in April 2022 as the project entity for the waste-to-energy initiative at Pomona.
The company signed a 30-year build-own-operate-transfer agreement with the City of Harare, with the clock starting on April 28, 2022.
The early months were anything but smooth.
Some residents questioned the company’s intentions, while cynics dismissed it as politically driven.
Geo Pomona’s chief executive officer and executive chairperson Dr Delish Nguwaya — who also serves as Special Adviser to President Mnangagwa on Waste Management and Environmental Sustainability — acknowledges the hostility.
“For more than 40 years, the 15-hectare Pomona site was an uncontrolled, council-run dumpsite,” he recalls.
“It was a place of smoke, bad smell and dirty water, with underground fires and leachate seeping from the waste.
“Fires burned on the site, and the last big one was reported to have lasted at least 16 days. The surrounding neighbourhoods faced serious public health risks, and people lived and worked in those conditions.”
But for many residents, the turning point was when rubbish started disappearing from their doorstep.
Refuse collection is one of those services people rarely celebrate when it works but notice immediately when it fails.
As Geo Pomona’s trucks began appearing in neighbourhoods, the conversation shifted.
Building an operation
Those results are now quantifiable.
According to company figures, Geo Pomona employs 1 514 workers, 60 percent of them women.
Since operations began, it has handled 598 800 tonnes of waste.
The company’s equipment inventory reads like a statement of intent: 55 rear-loading refuse compactors, 40 tipper trucks, 10 skip trucks, 10 front-loading compactors, excavators, dozers, landfill compactors and hundreds of skip bins.
The Pomona site now functions as a comprehensive waste management facility.
Waste arrives at a weighbridge and is registered.
A sorting plant recovers recyclables and degradable material is separated.
In due course, a waste-to-energy plant — with an engineering, procurement and construction contract signed on September 4, 2026 — will convert gas into electricity.
Dr Nguwaya describes the project as “a full circle, from a dumpsite that polluted the area to a site that will produce energy”.
The site has also become a community asset.
Beyond the soccer pitch, there are two tennis courts and two basketball courts, all free to use.
The Sprout Restaurant, which President Mnangagwa officially opened in March 2026, carries symbolic weight: “A sprout is new life, and ours grew out of what was once junk”.
Geo Pomona is also pursuing ISO certification, integrating quality (ISO 9001), environmental (ISO 14001), and health and safety (ISO 45001) standards into a single auditable management system.
The transformation attracted high-level attention.
The Government elevated Geo Pomona to National Project Status.
President Mnangagwa has toured the facility multiple times, from presiding over its groundbreaking in November 2023 to commissioning waste-sorting infrastructure in 2025.
Those visits opened doors.
Government ministries and local authorities began arriving to study the model.
On October 9, 2026 — a day after the signing of the agreement with Botswana — representatives from all 92 of Zimbabwe’s local authorities visited the site, accompanied by Engineer Tafadzwa Muguti, Permanent Secretary in the Ministry of Local Government and Public Works.
Geo Pomona has also signed an MoU with the Ministry of Skills Audit and Development, represented by Minister Dr Jenfan Muswere, to establish a centre of excellence in waste management focused on vocational training, research and innovation.
“Our target is to work with all 92 local authorities in Zimbabwe, and engagement with several cities is already in progress,” Dr Nguwaya says.
The continental stage
Geo Pomona’s ambitions now extend well beyond Zimbabwe’s borders.
The company has hosted delegations from Botswana, Ghana, Namibia, Uganda, Rwanda, the Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic and Türkiye.
In August 2024, Heads of State attending the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Summit in Harare visited the facility.
United Nations Resident Coordinator Dr Rosemary Kalapurakal has also toured the site, accompanied by officials from the World Food Programme and the Food and Agriculture Organisation of the United Nations.
The engagement has produced concrete outcomes.
Ghana and Botswana have signed MoUs.
Namibia is considering one.
But the exchange is not one-directional.
Geo Pomona has dispatched its own teams to Madagascar, Botswana, Ghana, Lesotho, Italy, Germany, Belarus, China, Portugal, Austria and Belgium to study international best practices.
At the signing of the MoU with Botswana, Dr Nguwaya framed the agreement in terms that transcended waste management.
“Today we do more than sign an agreement — we are committing to turning a shared regional challenge into a shared opportunity,” he
said.
“This MoU opens a new chapter between Botswana and Zimbabwe, grounded in trust, African expertise and the conviction that environmental challenges demand coordinated action across borders.”
He continued:
“Let this MoU be judged not by the signatures we place on paper today, but by the cleaner cities, stronger institutions, new green jobs and healthier communities it delivers.”
A model for Africa?
The significance of Geo Pomona’s trajectory extends beyond any single project or partnership.
It represents a rare example of a homegrown African solution attracting international demand — not through aid or charity, but through demonstrated competence.
For decades, waste management across much of Africa has been defined by crisis: overflowing landfills, inadequate collection and environmental degradation.
The prevailing assumption has been that solutions must be imported from the developed world.
Geo Pomona challenges that assumption.
Its model — combining waste collection, sorting, recycling, energy generation and community amenities on a single site — was developed in Harare, for the city’s specific challenges.
That it now attracts interest from governments across the continent suggests the model has broader relevance.
The company’s journey also illustrates the importance of political will.
Government endorsement — from National Project Status to presidential visits — provided legitimacy and opened doors that a purely private venture might have struggled to access.
What is undeniable is that a site once classified as an environmental emergency is now a source of national pride and a diplomatic asset.
As Zimbabwe seeks to position itself as a solutions provider rather than a recipient of development assistance, Geo Pomona offers a template. From the ashes of a burning dumpsite, something has grown.
And it is now being exported.
