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Noma Ndlovu

Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
THE Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) Company has engaged Zesa to seek load-shedding exemption at the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre. The exhibition centre, which is home to the annual Zimbabwe International Trade Fair, has of late been hosting a number of functions ranging from individual to corporate level.

ZITF Company general manager Noma Ndlovu told Business Chronicle that due to a wide range of functions hosted at the exhibition centre throughout the year, they had approached Zesa seeking uninterrupted power supply.

“It’s a concern that when we hire out our facilities for functions, we don’t have power. As a result, we’ve engaged Zesa for exemption on power. We’re currently in discussions with Zesa that can the zone (ZITF premises) be declared as an area that can’t be put on load shedding,” she said after yesterday’s tour of the facilities during a Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre (ZIEC) open day.

Ndlovu said discussions with the power utility were promising. The trade fair company has introduced a “ZIEC Open Day” as an initiative meant to create awareness of how the public and organisations can make use of the facilities at the exhibition centre.

“We’ve launched the open day as an initiative where we’re engaging with different stakeholders to create awareness of what the facilities here can offer. “Most people don’t know about our facilities, they associate the venue with the ZITF but there is more that we can offer apart from the trade fair,” she explained.

Apart from hosting the ZITF, she said, the ZIEC has been used by individuals and organisations locally or internationally for functions such as conferences and seminars, corporate events, exhibitions, sporting events, weddings and fun life style functions.

“We’ve been getting very good support particularly from churches, individuals and businesses that have been coming to have their functions here (ZIEC). “For example, in the months of April, August and December, we’re overwhelmed by weddings and during peak periods our venue is fully booked and at times we turn away some of the bookings,” said Ndlovu.

She said during quiet periods, the exhibition facilities were used to host examinations for institutions such as universities. ZIEC is a modern multi-purpose facility with a local, regional and international reputation.

The centre is a multipurpose venue with facilities that boast six fully-equipped and serviced exhibition halls, hundreds of individual pavilions and open-air sites as well as an Olympic size grass arena.