MASVINGO city is set for a major transformation as council has signed an investment deal with a Chinese firm, Sino-Zimbabwe, to establish a multi-million-dollar cement-producing plant in the Nyanda mountain range, along the Masvingo-Beitbridge Highway.
In addition to setting up the plant, Sino-Zimbabwe, the private investor, has also pledged to set up a residential area near the cement-making plant to house the company's anticipated 4 000-plus workforce.
The setting up of the cement-making plant follows the discovery of massive deposits of limestone, a key element in the manufacture of cement, in the Nyanda mountain range, about 15km southeast of Masvingo.
Masvingo Mayor Alderman Femius Chakabuda yesterday confirmed the deal with the Chinese investor and said it was subject to council's ability to provide water for the plant.
"We have agreed on a deal and the investor wants to build a completely new residential area for about 4 000 workers expected to work on the cement-making plant," he said.
"Work on the plant is expected to start any time soon after we have tied up the loose ends of the deal, which I can say is as good as done."
Alderman Chakabuda hailed the Chinese investor for deciding to do business in Masvingo, saying council was geared for the massive investment which was likely to change the economic face of Masvingo in "an unprecedented way".
The mayor said among the guarantees the council had given to Sino-Zimbabwe was the supply of about 30 megalitres of water required for its cement plant.
He said council had already started rolling out phase two of the water augmentation programme which will result in the overhaul of the water pumping infrastructure at the Bushmead waterworks near Lake Mutirikwi.
It would also upgrade the water conveyance infrastructure.
Alderman Chakabuda said the council would also build one more water storage tank at the Hillside mountains to specifically cater for the Chinese investment.
"We will be upgrading our waterworks as the Chinese develop their investment so that when they finish building the plant we will be able to supply them with the water required. As a city, we are fully geared for the investment," he said.
Sino-Zimbabwe's investment is likely to become arguably the biggest investment in the country's oldest town since independence.
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