Zimbabwe signs US$66.9 million joint venture to install bulk infrastructure at Masuwe Special Economic Zone

Zimbabwe’s Ministry of Tourism and Hospitality Industry has signed a US$66.9 million commercial joint venture with a private consortium to install bulk water, power and telecommunications infrastructure at the Masuwe Special Economic Zone, a 271‑hectare site located near the Victoria Falls rainforest.


The cabinet‑approved agreement pairs the state‑owned Mosi Oa Tunya Development Company, which contributes land equity, with Victoria Seven Investments — part of the J.R. Goddard Consortium — which will finance and construct the trunk utilities.

In return, Victoria Seven secures rights to develop or sell serviced plots earmarked for luxury hotels, villas, a golf estate, commercial precincts and a medical facility. The zone will also include a tourism academy and an international cricket stadium, which is already under construction.

Officiating on behalf of Tourism Minister Barbra Rwodzi, Deputy Minister Tongai Mafidi Mnangagwa described the investment as transformative, saying tourism must be treated as core infrastructure rather than leisure. He said Victoria Falls generates roughly a third of Zimbabwe’s tourist arrivals, but expansion has long been constrained by a shortage of serviced land. Peak‑season occupancy at top‑tier lodges routinely exceeds 80 percent, yet average per‑visitor spend trails regional competitors such as Botswana’s Okavango Delta, where high‑margin safari camps command premium rates.

By front‑loading utility networks, Government hopes to de‑risk the zone and unlock private investment. If delivered within the projected 24‑month timeframe, the Masuwe development could add more than 2,000 upscale rooms, effectively doubling Victoria Falls’ high‑end capacity and strengthening Zimbabwe’s position against regional rivals in Zambia and Namibia.

The project is also a test of whether Government can leverage state land to catalyse private capital without ceding control of strategic assets. Structured as a commercial joint venture rather than a concession, the arrangement allows the state to retain oversight while transferring execution risk to the Goddard consortium.

For President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s administration, the project is a test of delivery. First gazetted in 2012, the Masuwe zone has remained largely undeveloped for more than a decade. A successful rollout would provide a replicable public‑private partnership model for other state‑owned land parcels across the country, from Lake Kariba to the Eastern Highlands, reinforcing broader discussions around tourism‑driven infrastructure and PPP investment models.