Online Reporter
Fungi Kwaramba-National Editor
PRESIDENT MNANGAGWA has returned from a quiet, but highly productive working visit to the United Arab Emirates, having secured firm investment commitments in both real estate and maritime transport — a diplomatic breakthrough that promises to ease the plight of Kariba families left stranded by last month’s tragic ferry disaster, while also breathing fresh impetus into the construction of a new smart city in Mt Hampden.
The Kariba ferry catastrophe, which claimed 97 lives when a vessel capsized on the lake, exposed a gap in Zimbabwe’s inland water transport infrastructure, leaving entire communities — many of whom depend on fishing and cross-lake trade — cut off from essential goods and services.
In response, the President’s UAE engagement prioritised the urgent acquisition of safe, reliable vessels to restore the route, with an initial stopgap solution now secured while more sophisticated ferries are built to order.
At the same time, the working visit advanced the Second Republic’s flagship urban development project, the planned smart city at Mt Hampden, which is central to the Government’s Vision 2030 goal of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper-middle-income economy. The President’s meeting with Mr Mohamed Alabbar, the UAE’s largest real estate developer, has concretised that vision, securing a commitment that is expected to accelerate the construction phase of the new administrative and commercial hub on the outskirts of Harare.
In an interview last night, Deputy Chief Secretary (Presidential Communication) Mr George Charamba described the visit as “very productive” and “fruitful.”
Mr Mohamed Alabbar is an Emirati billionaire entrepreneur and the visionary founder of Emaar Properties, the Dubai-based real estate developer behind the world’s tallest building, the Burj Khalifa. Presidential Investment Advisor Dr Paul Tungwarara facilitated the meeting between the President and the real estate mogul.
“The key objectives in that quiet visit were two, firstly to mobilise real estate interest in anticipation of the construction phase of Mount Hampton City and secondly, to look at possibilities of benefiting from UAE’s shipbuilding expertise to acquire boats and ferries for maritime traffic, particularly in Kariba. That visit was very productive and the key highlight of the visit itself was the President’s encounter with the largest real estate developer in UAE, Mr Mohamed Alabbar.
“In respect of that engagement, the President secured a commitment of involvement of that real estate developer who is scheduled to visit the country in September as it way to consolidate on the discussion. Slowly and thanks to advisor, I think Mount Hamden will begin to take a very concrete form in keeping with the objectives of Vision 2030,” said Mr Charamba.
Under the Second Republic’s strategic drive toward Vision 2030—the goal of transforming Zimbabwe into an upper-middle-income economy—the new smart city in Mount Hampden stands as a crowning flagship achievement, with the UAE showing huge investment appetite in the sector.
Apart from engaging business contacts, the President also used the trip to acquire vessels to alleviate transport challenges that were being faced by families in Kariba who were recently left devastated and cut off in terms of transport after a ferry disaster that killed 97 people.
“As the President was engaging the business contacts in the real estate sector, he then assigned the Chief Secretary Dr Martin Rushwaya and a small group of senior officials to visit the maritime side of the UAE, in Dubai, where the Chief Secretary was able to see a variety of water vessels which could in fact be acquired for purposes of ensuring that services across the Kariba Dam are quickly restored.
“In that scouting mission, the accent was on the safety features of the vessels, it was on the cargo capacity given that the people plying that route are largely peasants who are either in the fisheries or who are buying goods from Kariba town. And then of course the third aspect was to look at passenger capacity. The additional feature that we looked at had to do with the refrigeration services on the vessels, considering that the economy we are looking at along the Kariba is basically a fisheries one. I am happy to inform you that the engagement was successful, except we were a bit concerned that the lead time for the delivery of the vessel was a bit longer, actually a minimum of nine months. And given the urgency of the dire situation that those communities are facing, it is clear that nine months is a month too many, because of that we then negotiated with the prospective provider of that service that he in the interim puts together some temporary vessels which will be manufactured here in Zimbabwe so that they can then play a stopgap measure to ensure that the people living on either side of the Kariba are well-serviced. That was granted. Then the waiting period will become bearable for us. We are looking at vessels which can carry up to 40 passengers and with cargo capacity,” said Mr Charamba.
In the long term, Mr Charamba added, Zimbabwe will acquire ferries with a carrying capacity of upwards of 600 passengers.
“We are looking at possibly acquiring two so that we meet the demand but we also transfer people in safety. So, really, help is on the way in Kariba, but we looked beyond Kariba and said, well, if that formula can work for Kariba, then it can be replicated in almost all our water bodies, which remain largely underserved, if not undeveloped. So this is the beginning of a major investment in our water bodies so that they are made passable and they are also enhanced for purposes of economic activity.”
He added that the visit enabled Zimbabwe to gauge the spirit of investment readiness in the UAE with the appetite encouraging. President Mnangagwa returned home last night.
