Online Reporter
Michael Tome [email protected]
THE Hospitality Association of Zimbabwe (HAZ) has proposed a National Tourism Readiness Taskforce to coordinate investment, financing and infrastructure readiness as Zimbabwe accelerates preparations to host the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) in Harare in 2029.
IATF is the continent’s premier trade and investment marketplace co-convened biennially by Afreximbank, the African union and the AfCFTA Secretariat to connect businesses, investors and governments, unlock trade opportunities and accelerate economic integration across Africa.
Zimbabwe secured the permanent hosting rights and headquarters for the Intra-African Trade Fair (IATF) during the event’s 2025 edition in Algiers, Algeria, with the inaugural full-scale event taking place in Harare in 2029.
IATF aims to tap into opportunities from AfCFTA’s single market of over 1,4 billion people and gross domestic product of over US$3,5 trillion.
Attended by more than 112 000 visitors from 132 countries, IATF2025, which took place from September 4 to 10, ended on a remarkably high note with US$48,3 billion in trade and investment deals signed over the seven days of the continental expo.
It welcomed 2 148 exhibitors.
The continental showcase will run annually in Zimbabwe from 2029 to 2033.
The transformation of IATF into an independent and permanent institution is aimed at making the fair sustainable, scalable and deeply aligned to the vision of the AfCFTA.
To host the event, Zimbabwe has been mandated to put in place specified hotel and conferencing infrastructure sufficient within a 40-kilometre radius of Harare.
Zimbabwe expects to reap massive economic, infrastructural and investment benefits by hosting the permanent headquarters of the Intra-African Trade Fair Company (IATFCO) and the 2029 IATF showcase.
Tourism is a strategically key sector for Zimbabwe, contributing about 10 percent to the country’s domestic product (GDP), having accounted for as much as 15 percent in some recent evaluations.
HAZ president Mrs Emmah Kativhu told a media briefing yesterday that the proposed multi-stakeholder taskforce would bring together key stakeholders, including HAZ, the Bankers Association of Zimbabwe (BAZ), the Zimbabwe
Tourism Authority (ZTA), the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry, pension funds, development partners and technical experts to oversee the preparations to ensure the sector’s readiness.
According to Mrs Kativhu, the Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry and ZTA would spearhead the taskforce by providing strategic direction, coordinating implementation and ensuring that tourism operators requiring funding are linked to financial institutions once they have met the necessary bankability requirements.
The taskforce would also work with technical partners, including architects, designers, engineers and reputable building contractors, to ensure refurbishment projects meet international standards while strengthening the industry’s human capital ahead of the continental event.
“The taskforce would monitor financing, refurbishment progress, workforce readiness and implementation challenges while publishing quarterly progress reports and maintaining a national readiness dashboard.
“By December 2026, the programme aims to have at least ten professionally prepared funding proposals submitted to lenders, more than five projects reaching financial close and full adoption of the HAZ Bankability Toolkit by participating members.
“By mid-2027, refurbishment projects should be underway across the country,” said Mrs Kativhu.
The proposed readiness programme is expected to improve coordination between Government, financiers and the private sector while accelerating the refurbishment and expansion of tourism facilities needed to accommodate increased visitor numbers ahead of IATF 2029.
The HAZ Bankability Toolkit is designed to help tourism businesses prepare investment-ready proposals by strengthening financial documentation, governance structures and project feasibility, thereby improving their ability to secure financing from banks and institutional investors.
Beyond preparations for IATF 2029, Mrs Kativhu said the initiative is intended to leave a lasting legacy for Zimbabwe’s tourism industry through improved infrastructure, enhanced international connectivity, a more skilled workforce and broader access to finance, particularly for small and medium-sized enterprises and women-led tourism businesses.
She said the programme would also establish a permanent mechanism for coordinating tourism investment, ensuring that the momentum generated by IATF preparations translates into sustained growth and competitiveness for the sector.
Mrs Kativhu reaffirmed HAZ’s commitment to leading the coordinated initiative and urged the Government, financial institutions, development partners and private sector stakeholders to work together to transform tourism investment opportunities into measurable national economic outcomes.
IATF positions Zimbabwe as a central trade hub and has sparked major national infrastructure upgrades, including hotel expansions and a proposed 5 000-seater convention centre at the Robert Mugabe Square in Harare.
Zimbabwe’s right to host the event is bound by a comprehensive Host Country Agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank), which bankrolls the event, the African union and the African Continental Free Trade Area Secretariat.
The conditions require the Government to provide world-class infrastructure and policy guarantees for seamless continental business.
Industry estimates indicate that Zimbabwe will require more than 10 000 additional hotel rooms, mainly in the three-to-five-star category, to raise national accommodation capacity to about 27 000 rooms before the continental event.
Priority investment areas include hotel and accommodation expansion, refurbishment of conference and exhibition facilities, tourism transport services, digital infrastructure, destination enhancement and sustainable tourism projects incorporating green technologies.
Zimbabwe must also provide convention and exhibition facilities with 50 000 square metres to 60 000 square metres of gross exhibition space, plenary halls for 5 000 attendees, VIP lounges and a modern press room.
Further, the agreement dictates the waiving of import and customs duties for all goods temporarily imported for exhibition, with a minimum duty-free allowance threshold of US$30 000 per participant.
Zimbabwe emerged as the winner from the formal bids for hosting the headquarters of the IATFCO that were received from Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe and South Africa.
