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George Maponga in Masvingo
The newly formed Masvingo Development Trust has set its sights on exploiting opportunities that will be created by the $1 billion Beitbridge-Harare Highway dualisation project which is expected to kick off at the end of this month.

The trust is an investment vehicle formed by both private and public players in Masvingo to identify and engage in profitable economic ventures that have the potential to turn around the province’s economy.

Masvingo Provincial Affairs Minister Senator Josaya Hungwe is the patron of the Trust which is chaired by Zanu-PF Secretary for Security in the Politburo Cde Lovemore Matuke and deputised by ruling party Masvingo provincial chair Cde Ezra Chadzamira.

The Trust has already invested in winter maize production in the Lowveld where more than 300 hectares were put under the staple crop.

Cde Chadzamira said Masvingo Development Trust was positioning for opportunities to be engendered by the Harare-Beitbridge highway dualisation project.

‘’We have now turned our attention to the highway dualisation project where we are are scouting for opportunities where we can invest to generate profit as we continue with efforts to grow our balance sheet,” he said.

“We are looking at things like supply of quarry stones and other key raw materials in road construction. We also facilitate other companies to get contracts where our trust lacks both the financial and technical wherewithal and in return we charge a certain commission which goes into the account of the trust.’’

Cde Chadzamira said they were also in the process of identifying bankable irrigation projects to venture into production of cash crops such as cotton particularly for the export market. “We are still carrying out research on underutilised dams such as Tokwe-Mukosi, Manyuchi, Siya, Bangala and Manjirenji in the province to see how best we can tap them for irrigation purposes to grow crops mainly for the export market,’’ he said.

Cde Chadzamira said his trust was also taking advantage of Government programmes like the Command Agriculture and Command Livestock to expand its business portfolio.

‘’In the winter maize project in Chiredzi we got inputs from the Command Agriculture programme and we are expecting more than 1 000 tonnes of maize that we will sell and pay back the inputs that we received,” he said.

‘’We are also targeting the Command Livestock Programme where we also want to venture to into commercial cattle rearing so that we benefit from the anticipated boom in the local beef industry.’’

Cde Chadzamira said the trust had potential to become a business behemoth with interests straddling sectors such as construction,finance, agriculture and tourism.

‘’Everyone is welcome to join and become a member of our trust irrespective of political affiliation. We want to leverage on the province’s comparative advantage in areas such as tourism and agriculture under irrigation,” he said.