Mnangagwa to open Real Estate Institute winter school

Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa will today officially open the Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe winter school and the annual general meeting.

The winter school, in which the estate agencies and property managers would be discussing challenges bedevilling the industry as well as investment opportunities, will run from today up to Sunday.

It will be run under the theme "Driving Economic Growth Through Investing in Real Estate."

Real Estate Institute of Zimbabwe secretary general, Mr Bennias Gwembe said the focus of the programme was to discuss the implication of the introduction of bond notes.

"We have invited VP Mnangagwa to the function tomorrow, (today) to address business people in the real estate industry. Our organisation was formed in 1945. It has he agency division and the management division.

"We are also going to have speakers from South Africa who are in the same industry," he said.

Mr Gwembe said the main challenge that the industry was facing was the proliferation of bogus estate agencies who were taking over business much to the detriment of the registered estate agencies and property management companies.

He said there was need for Government to set up mechanisms that protect the industry from unregistered companies that were evading tax and robbing Government of potential revenue.

"We have a serious challenge of bogus estate agencies that have infiltrated the market. These are stealing business from registered companies who are paying tax to the Government.

"We are working with the police to try and weed out these unregistered agencies and protect the industry," Mr Gwembe.