Zimbabwe Property Brief

Dr George Manyaya: we are no longer owing DBSA. We finished paying.

Nyasha: That was Doctor George Manyaya, chairman of ZINARA, the Zimbabwe National Road Administration, telling its annual general meeting that the road agency has paid off its loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa. Good morning. This is the Zimbabwe Property Brief from Executive AI Studio, for Friday the twenty-third of October. I'm Nyasha, an AI presenter, and with me is our AI correspondent, Farai. This week, Bulawayo's council wants to raise its charges by an average of seventy-four percent, and residents are pushing back. We'll also hear about ZINARA's road loan, WestProp's plans for Pomona City and Harare's shrinking wetlands. And we'll end on a newly opened stretch of road near Lupane.

Farai: Morning, Nyasha. Glad to be here.

Nyasha: We'll start in Bulawayo, where residents are facing much bigger bills. Farai has been following it.

Farai: Thanks, Nyasha. What you're hearing is the sound of a public meeting in a community hall. Bulawayo City Council proposes a budget of four hundred and fifty-seven point eight eight million US dollars for twenty twenty-seven. That's more than double this year's two hundred and twenty million. To pay for it, overall charges would rise by an average of seventy-four percent.

Nyasha: Sorry, Farai, what does that look like on a bill?

Farai: Refuse collection in high-density suburbs would go from seven dollars a month to fifteen dollars seventy. Water would go from seventy cents a kilolitre to two dollars twenty-seven for the first five kilolitres. The council says the money is for water, sewers and roads. Councillor Mpumelelo Moyo, who chairs its finance committee, says the city has stood still too long. Here's how he put it, read by an AI voice.

Mpumelelo Moyo (read by an AI voice): Moving away from a standstill budget that has characterised the City of Bulawayo for the past four years in a row, the City has dared to dream again in 2027.

Farai: And here's what he added.

Mpumelelo Moyo (read by an AI voice): As the chairperson of the Finance and Development Committee, I also urge the residents of Bulawayo to pay their bills religiously going into 2027.

Farai: Residents' groups say many households can'T pay more. An online petition against the rises has gathered one thousand two hundred and sixty-six signatures. The Bulawayo Progressive Residents Association says a household bill would rise from thirty-seven dollars ninety-two to sixty-six dollars ten, and that households already owe the council one point nine five billion ZiG.

Farai: Disability rights advocate Tsepang Nare rejected the budget too. Here's what Nare said.

Tsepang Nare (read by an AI voice): You cannot talk about a modern, smart city of the future when your infrastructure remains a physical barrier.

Farai: The budget is still out for consultation. The question is whether the council lowers these tariffs, and whether households that already owe can pay more.

Nyasha: Farai, thank you.

Nyasha: Now, let's look at this week's figures. The housing ministry says ninety-five thousand homes were delivered in the first half of this year, against a target of two hundred thousand. So the second half has to deliver more than the first. Minister Paul Mavima says he's very confident. WestProp Holdings reported revenue of fourteen point nine one million US dollars for the six months to June, up sixteen point three percent from twelve point eight two million a year earlier. Pomona City brought in four point nine nine million of that, up twenty-one point three percent.

Farai: Around the sector now. ZINARA, the Zimbabwe National Road Administration, has repaid a fifteen-year, two hundred and six million dollar loan from the Development Bank of Southern Africa, the DBSA. It paid for rehabilitating the highway from Plumtree through Bulawayo and Harare to Mutare. Here's board chairman Doctor George Manyaya again, at ZINARA's annual general meeting.

Dr George Manyaya: So our last payment was on the 30th of September.

Farai: Transport Minister Felix Mhona says the government has also secured a four hundred million dollar bond for outstanding road projects.

Nyasha: WestProp Holdings plans to move its Pomona City land bank into a new company, Alpha Holdings Africa, the Financial Gazette reports. Here's how chief executive Ken Sharpe described where Pomona City began, at this year's ZimReal event.

Ken Sharpe: We designed a city, 20,000 homes, 20,000 units. We launched phase one with 700 stands that are now sold out.

Nyasha: In Harare, the wetlands that feed the city's water supply are shrinking. A Harare Wetlands Trust analysis, reported by The Herald, found the city's ten major headwater wetlands fell by about half between two thousand and seven and twenty nineteen. In Glen Lorne, twenty-six homeowners have taken developer Zhuomu International to the High Court. Zhuomu denies breaching the wetland buffer in its environmental certificate. Here's what urban planning expert Doctor Percy Toriro said.

Dr Percy Toriro (read by an AI voice): Unfortunately, over the years the city has lost most of these wetlands as they have been destroyed due to urban development

Nyasha: And finally, to Matabeleland North. Last week, contractor Road Trackers opened an upgraded section of the Lupane-Nkayi-Kwekwe road near Lupane. When all two hundred and forty kilometres are done, the road will cut the journey between Kwekwe and Victoria Falls by nearly two hundred kilometres. Arthur Moyo runs a lodge near Nkayi. Here's how he put it.

Arthur Moyo (read by an AI voice): Those travellers will spend money and leave it in the pockets of local businesspeople

Nyasha: This show is brought to you by Executive AI Studio. We build AI assistants for Zimbabwean businesses. Find us at executiveai.studio.

Nyasha: Sources for every story are in the episode notes and on the episode's page. This brief was researched and written by AI. I'm Nyasha. Have a good week.