Kariba plans US$1bn Integrated Resorts

Kariba Municipality is looking for a joint venture partner for the development of an Integrated Waterfront Resort in the town located in Mashonaland West province of Zimbabwe.

Kariba used to be a popular holiday destination but has been on its knees for some time now.
Experts say some of the reasons the town fell out of favour with tourists include the absence of upmarket hotels and other facilities such as a big conference venue and golf courses.

To turn around the situation, the city fathers plan to construct a luxury hotel, a golf course, conference centre and casino through a joint venture project valued at US$450 million.

The project, which was showcased to pension funds and insurance companies by the Zimbabwe Investment Development Agency (ZIDA) chief executive officer Duduzile Shinya during a webinar organised by IPEC earlier in the week, will sit on 50 hectares of land.

Speaking to Business Weekly, Kariba Municipality’s Public Relations Officer Gabriel Mazivofa, said the decision to construct the Integrated Waterfront Resort was motivated by the lack of top end facilities in the resort town.

He said the town does not have bigger conferences and golf courses which are a bigger attraction in other tourist destinations in the country such as Victoria Falls and Nyanga.
Kariba is among the country’s tourism industry centres with its main attractions being water-based — fishing, game-viewing and house-boating — being the most popular activities.

A golf course is the missing link in Kariba and we believe it is much needed to complement other activities on offer in Kariba, Mazivofa said.

He said the Municipality has land lying idle at Mopani Bay yet it is idle for such facilities.
At some point, the land was being used as a camping site but has largely been underused according to Mazivofa

“Blending what we currently have and a golf course will attract tourists,” he said and added that the town does not have an upmarket hotel that can host big conferences.

The Kariba Municipality is not the only one thinking about putting up such facilities in the resort town.
Devedzo (Zim) Investments PVT Ltd, a registered and wholly owned Zimbabwean indigenous company which is into property development is also looking for funds and looking for a Joint Venture partner to develop an Integrated Resort in Kariba.

The project, which will be worth US$400 million, is for the construction of the Kariba Integrated Resort whose grand plan includes among other things;a 36 hole golf course, hotels, convention centre, casino, shopping mall, integrated commercial district, luxury condominiums timeshares, according Shinya while informing the insurance and pensions industry of the investment opportunities that they can invest in.-ebusinessweekly