Chronicle Editor
Sukulwenkosi Dube-Matutu, [email protected]
GWANDA Municipality has embarked on an industrialisation drive and availed industrial space to attract investors as the local authority seeks to build and rebrand the mining town into a manufacturing hub as the town eyes a city status.
The town has 3 000 hectares of land which was recently allocated for industrial and residential purposes. In an interview, Gwanda Mayor, Councillor Thulani Moyo said there is a need to grow the town’s manufacturing sector.
“As I assume office, one of my targets for the next five years is to develop an industrial area in Gwanda, which we have never had before. We have land for industrial purposes which hasn’t been taken up by investors. We can’t afford to have land lying idle when we are in need of development as a town,” he said.
“My target is to ensure that we re-build and rebrand Gwanda Town through commercialisation and industrialisation. We can’t have people travelling to as far as Bulawayo to get raw materials when we can actually have our own manufacturing plants.”
Cllr Moyo said the local authority has started identifying potential investors.
He said the town has players in the mining and farming sectors who have the potential to invest and contribute to the town’s industrial growth.He said the target is to get the buy-in of such players to attract more investors from other provinces including international ones.Cllr Moyo said the development will help to create employment and improve livelihoods.
“We have potential investors locally and the strategy is to engage them so that they take up industrial space. Once there is significant industrial development in the town then we will be able to attract more investors,” he said.
“Even SMEs can come together and form consortiums and take up industrial space where they can operate at a large scale. As a town, the business activity that we mainly have in the town is vending and small businesses.”Cllr Moyo said for the town to grow into a city, it needs more large-scale businesses.
“We need to grow our economy as a town so that people get jobs and help uplift the standard of living of our people,” he said.”Those interested in investing can approach the municipality’s economic development office to identify various investment opportunities that are available.”
Cllr Moyo said the local authority will also use various platforms to profile the town and its investment opportunities. He said Gwanda has a huge potential since it is the provincial capital including its location along the Bulawayo- Beitbridge-Victoria Falls Road, one of the country’s busiest highways, which is also a major gateway to Sadc countries and tourist destinations within the country.The road is a strategic trade route in the regional north-to-south corridor, linking Zimbabwe with South Africa, Zambia, Botswana, and Namibia as well as DRC.
“I would like to emphasise to various stakeholders that Gwanda is open for business. We want artisanal miners to direct the money that they get from panning towards developing their town. The industrialisation drive requires collective effort and I urge everyone to play a part,” he said.
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