adminMasvingo has a rich history of educated people. It won’t be an understatement if we say that in every aspect of life its people have dominated with much ease. At almost every tertiary institution in Zimbabwe and beyond you will find that there would be one or more students excelling and that unassailable record has been found everywhere, far and wide. However, turning the intellectual acumen into economic development has proved to be a feat hard to achieve for the region.
In sharp contrast to all this excellent record, the province is far from being developed, let alone having a meaningful factory. This is against the fact that it is home to the only sugar cane plantations in the country — Chiredzi, Mkwasine and Hippo Valley Estates — and has the largest inland dam in the form of Lake Mutirikwi.
All these are meaningful economic drivers that can bring about the much-needed investment to the oldest town let alone the whole province. There is a great potential to attract both domestic and foreign direct investment.
The strides that are being made to revitalise investment opportunities in the region are not only commendable but a move in the right direction. With Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam construction project now an estimated 60 percent complete, farmers and companies cannot wait to benefit from an initiative that will ease water shortage in the province, particularly its south.
Upon completion, the dam will help scores of farmers through irrigation, a situation that will see the problem of food security being addressed. More than 3 000 families are already earmarked for relocation to a
nearby ranch, away from the flood basin. That is a clear sign that the project that has been lagging behind for more than two decades will come to fruition.
The Tokwe-Mukorsi Dam project will bring hope to the drought-prone province whose food deficit stands at 56 000 tonnes. The province produced 80 000 tonnes of maize and 50 000 tonnes of small grains, bringing the total to 130 000 tonnes of grain. The province’s annual food requirement is 186 000 metric tonnes.
With an estimated population of 1,5 million, the province has more than 21 000 households in dire need of food assistance.
A prominent businessman in the province, Mr Josbi Omar, recently launched an organisation called the Hub whose main objective is to empower the less privileged.
The Hub is a membership-based organisation in which members apply for business loans, whether soft or corporate loan capital to venture into businesses of their choice. The Hub has partnered with FBC bank who provides the loans to the members with bankable business projects. The good part of this partnership is that members don’t have to undergo harrowing channels where the issue of collateral security would be a core requirement for one to acquire a loan. By virtue of being a member, one is exempt from meeting collateral security requirements.
The Hub initiative is expected to see Masvingo having at least 25 new factories, a situation that will not only change the economic face of the town but also bring hope to the hordes of unemployed youths roaming the streets. The proposed factories will provide jobs to hundreds of youths in the province thereby bringing a new lease of life to the highly educated but unemployed populace.
Small-scale miners who have been on the receiving end for a long time facing problems of capital, equipment and other operational challenges, have been given a lifeline.
Mr Omar has also made available a heavy duty blasting machine that would be hired at concessionary rates by members who are into mining.
Women in mining have hailed the Hub initiative for addressing their plight through the provision of loans and mining equipment.
“We are very happy that there are some people who still care about women’s plight. The blasting machine will go a long way in addressing the problem of machinery that we have been facing. We can start working
now that we have been given the much-needed machinery,” said Mrs Gladys Chivasa who has a mining claim in Masvingo district.
In Chiredzi and Hippo Valley, indigenous farmers will again get the opportunity to shine given the fact that their sugar cane which earlier had no lucrative market in the province now has a ready market. The recently established Green Fuel ethanol plant at Chisumbanje has already provided a ready market for most sugar farmers in the Lowveld although the project also grows its own feedstock.
Affirmative Action Group (AAG) Masvingo chapter official Dr Fredrick Kasese said the new year will present better opportunities for the region.
“2012 promises to be a very good year for the province. There are a good number of developmental programmes earmarked for this year and if they materialise, the region will be in for an economic rebound.
“It is possible for Masvingo to contribute [more meaningfully] to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) given its potential. We have a lot of opportunities in the province that we can tap to our added advantage. We have to add value to the sugar cane that we are producing.
“We should have our own canning factories and not to take our sugar cane to Harare for processing where it will come [back here] at a premium,” said Dr Kasese.
Online Reporter