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Thupeyo Muleya, Beitbridge Bureau

BEITBRIDGE Municipality is looking for investors to exploit some opportunities in the town as it walks on the road to transformation into a modern city.

Town clerk, Mr Loud Ramakgapola, told stakeholders during the Beitbridge Corporate and People’s Choice Awards on Saturday that the town had endless possibilities for investment.

The awards were hosted by the Beitbridge Business Expo to promote and improve the quality of service across the town.

“In addition to us working together to make these awards possible, we want to create a working platform for showcasing investment opportunities within our town,” said Mr Ramakgapola.

“We are a town with endless possibilities, and among them, is the development of a new central business district, which we think is within 2024, it’s a dream you will see happening soon.

“In fact, we are inviting businessesto exploit opportunities in a number  of economic sectors and are  ready to make the necessary processes seamless.”

He said businesses should also ride on the town’s status as a Special Economic Zone and enjoy the fruits that come with such a status.

Mr Ramakgapola said they were  looking at creating a new city centre  in line with the ongoing town transformation and the construction of a showground.

He said land for the showground in the pattern of the Zimbabwe International Exhibition Centre in Bulawayo Fair or the Harare Showgrounds had been identified.

“We are looking at developing the showgrounds in partnership with the Beitbridge Business Expo. 

“This will be an area to bring together businesses to market our town and sell investment opportunities in various economic sectors,” said Mr Ramakgapola.

“We are also a town that has possibilities for investment in the Special Economic Zone. We have been declared by the Government as a Special Economic Zone and this creates big opportunities for businesses to invest and expand in our town.

“There are also opportunities for the development of new residential suburbs and this year, one of the things we are looking at is the establishment of a gated community.”

He said the Government has already constructed a modern staff village on the east of the town and that the council  was seeking partnerships for the development of similar facilities within the same area.

Mr Ramakgapola said the municipality is complementing the efforts being done by the Government in modernising Beitbridge Town.

“In addition, we are looking at the development of a zipline on the local hills and mountain range around the town,” he said.

“There is also a need to build a new soccer stadium, the establishment of an area for quad bikes racing and a golf course. Some of the developments will be done through private public-private partnerships.”

Beitbridge Business Expo chairperson and award-winning businesswoman, Dr Anna Muleya, said the awards were being held as a way of encouraging a culture of competition within the organisations in the town.

The Beitbridge Expo, she said, was focusing more on recognising organisations including corporates, Government agencies, non-governmental organisations among others. In some instances, she said they will only be awarded to certain individuals who had made an impact in the community in different spheres. – @tupeyo