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Blessings Chidakwa
Herald Reporter
The value of assets held by individual Zimbabweans will rise by at least US$10 billion from the roll out of the 1 million title deeds in the Kwangu/Ngakwami Presidential Title Deeds programme which enables ordinary Zimbabweans to proudly claim ownership of their houses.
Property experts, bankers, and business sectors yesterday interfaced during a ZimReal Property Investment forum spearheaded by one of the country’s leading property developers, West Prop Holdings .
President Mnangagwa has made it the Government’s priority to deal with the title deeds issue after many residents had fallen prey to unscrupulous land barons.
The title deeds form part of a nationwide programme to secure property rights for homeowners in areas previously referred to as informal settlements.
West Properties chief executive Mr Ken Sharpe said there are approximately 1 million people that are going to get title deeds within the next year from Government.
“At US$10 000 of property, that’s US$10 billion of capital that is going to be available to those who are promised. If it’s US$ 100 000 worth of property because the value is not already in cheap houses, we are looking at something like US$100 billion. So, look at that US$10 to US$100 billion is becoming available immediately,” he said.
Businessman and banker Dr Nigel Chanakira also said the Presidential Title Deeds Scheme is a welcome initiative.
“There is one extra dynamic, which I think could be a game changer, which the current Government has come up with. This Kwangu/Ngakwami project. Now, the moment you give the title to those people, do not underestimate the capacity that they will have to change things.
“That’s what I would encourage people to do because the moment you empower someone and you give them a title there is equity finance that can come from that. They leave with a great deal of money because of that. So, I would see that as a game changer,” he said.
Dr Chanakira added: “That’s what these guys have done incredibly well. If you can thrive on that since they used a piece of land then I think it’s going to be good.”
One of Zimbabwe’s leading property developers, West Prop Holdings, has joined forces with South African property giant Examplar to construct the country’s largest shopping mall.
The mall will span a massive 65,000 square meters in Harare’s Borrowdale area. Exemplar’s chief executive Jason McCormick speaking about the project at the recent ZimReal Property Investment Forum said the mall would be world class featuring between 100 and 200 tenants.
“It is really going to be a first-world shopping mall. In terms of size, we did market research last year. It’s going to be of the standard that you would see in South African shopping or Dubai, London, all of that.
“They said that we can do anything between 35 000 to 65 000 square meters of retail space. The mall is expected to include three or four major supermarkets, a variety of specialty stores, and a range of recreational and leisure amenities,” he said.
He said shoppers can look forward to entertainment options such as a cinema, kids’ play areas, restaurants, skate parks, paddle courts, and even an indoor soccer facility.
Mr Sharpe said it was exciting partnering with Examplar which has developed more than 90 shopping malls in South Africa.
“We identified a site of 15 hectares, a very large site. In fact, that site, his father, John McCormick, the founder of the company, identified even 10 years prior to us getting the land,” he said.
“So when we met them and they knew about the site and we identified them, people with a similar mindset to us, who want to build the future, who are patient, who want to do things properly, who want to make sure the planning is done excellently,” he said.
Exemplary is a Johannesburg Stock Exchange-listed company with over four decades of experience in property development, which will bring its expertise to the project.
The company has successfully developed more than 90 state-of-the-art shopping malls across South Africa.
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