Online Reporter
Martin Kadzere
Masvingo Province presents significant opportunities for pension funds to invest in high-value industries, including agriculture, energy, mining, tourism and infrastructure development, a senior Government official has said.
This was said by the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution for Masvingo, Minister Ezra Chadzamira, at the Zimbabwe Association of Pension Funds (ZAPF) annual convention last week.
Minister Chadzamira’s presentation detailed how Masvingo, which boasts over 54 percent of the country’s total water reserves, was strategically positioned to be a major economic hub, particularly in value addition.
In 2024, Masvingo province’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) was ZiG4,95 billion, making it the sixth-largest contributor to the national GDP.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat, the province’s key economic drivers were agriculture, forestry, and fishing as well as the manufacturing industry, which contributed 14,06 percent and 13,36 percent of the provincial GDP, respectively.
The province is seeking partners to finance large-scale projects, including a new ethanol plant in Mwenezi District and the establishment of solar farms across Gutu, Chivi, Zaka, and other districts.
The investment proposition is anchored on several key value chains designed to boost local production and exports.
In the energy sector, the focus is on constructing mini-hydro power stations at Manyuchi Dam and Siya Dam to alleviate national power shortages.
The agricultural sector offers significant opportunities through the development of beef value chains—specifically tanneries and abattoirs in Mwenezi and Chiredzi—to capitalise on the province’s herd of over 1,1 million cattle and address a national shortage in leather products.
“The country is currently producing less than 1,5 million pairs of shoes against a local demand of 14,3 million pairs per annum,” the minister noted, highlighting the vast gap pension fund investment can fill.
Other key agro-processing projects include prospective sugar milling plants at Mkwasine and Mwenezi and the establishment of agro-processing industries for value addition of traditional grains.
Minister Chadzamira also invited funds to invest heavily in infrastructure and resource exploitation.
Significant returns are projected in real estate development in all urban centres and growth points to tackle massive housing waiting lists.
The province is also courting investors for the construction and rehabilitation of sugar cane industry water conveyance systems for over 100 000 hectares in the lowveld.
In the mining sector, Minister Chadzamira pointed to the need for exploration and evaluation of kimberlites for diamond potential in Triangle and other areas, as well as the setting up of tantalite, lithium, and tin minerals beneficiation plants in Bikita and Gutu.
For tourism, investments are required in eco-tourism development around major dams like Tugwi Mukosi and Mutirikwi, including accommodation and conference facilities, as well as activity-based resorts.
Minister Chadzamira underscored the urgency and tangibility of the investment opportunities, confirming the provincial leadership’s readiness to facilitate projects.
He highlighted that the coupling of the Tugwi-Mukosi Dam with vast fertile soils and frost-free weather had created “massive opportunities for the agricultural sector,” inviting investors to engage in joint ventures or long-term leases for mega-projects.
Analysts described the opportunities as not just theoretical, but real, measurable, and transformative.
As of June 2025 Zimbabwe’s pension fund assets were valued at approximately US$2,63 billion. A significant portion of these assets is heavily invested in property and alternative assets as well as liquid assets like listed equities, cash, and money market instruments.
