Locals to get 30% stake in Egodini

CONTRACTORS of the $60 million Egodini project have engaged an independent financial advisor to put together a broad-based retail equity scheme that will allow ordinary residents of Bulawayo to acquire a maximum of 30% shareholding in the project.

The shareholding will be based on actual construction costs, an official has said.

In a media update on Friday, Terracotta Trading Private Limited (TTPL) director, Thulani Moyo, said the public offer opens in mid-2018.

TTPL is a South African civil engineering firm that was awarded the contract by Bulawayo City Council (BCC) in 2015 to develop a transport hub and shopping mall at Basch Street Terminus, popularly known as Egodini.

"We have further good news for the ordinary resident of Bulawayo. In our original tender submission to Bulawayo City Council, we committed to providing ordinary residents of Bulawayo with an opportunity to invest in the Egodini project once it had been sufficiently de-risked," Moyo said.

"We are, therefore, in the process of engaging a credible and independent financial adviser to put together a broad-based retail equity scheme that will allow ordinary residents of the city to acquire up to a maximum of 30% shareholding in the project based on actual construction costs.

"The public offer will open in mid-2018 and will be targeted at specifically enabling the ordinary resident of Bulawayo to participate, making this project one that truly belongs to all the people of Bulawayo," he said.

Moyo said over the last few months, they have positively interacted with BCC finalising plan approvals.

"Having incorporated final comments from BCC, updated plans were submitted last month and we are expecting our approvals soon," he said.

"We, therefore, issued an advert to appoint a Main Building Contractor for Phase 1 of the Egodini project two weeks ago. We have received positive response from various interested parties."

Moyo said a compulsory briefing session would be held on Friday and the tender will close on December 1, 2017.

"Notwithstanding our own progress, we are also waiting for BCC to indicate when they will be ready to do site handover," he said.
Moyo said the main challenge they anticipate is accessing foreign currency to import certain major items such as air conditioning plant and equipment for the bus terminus building.

"As much as possible, we are encouraging contractors to try and source all other materials and equipment locally. This is our contribution to ZimAsset [Zimbabwe's economic blueprint]," he said.

Moyo said there are many opportunities for local contractors and suppliers to secure work.

He encouraged women and youth-owned businesses to come and participate in the construction process.

"We look forward to finally being able to provide a clean working environment for informal traders and decent facilities for all public transport commuters," Moyo said.