BULAWAYO is determined to revive its industry and restore its status as Zimbabwe’s industrial hub, the city’s mayor David Coltart has said.
Welcoming, on Tuesday, visitors and exhibitors at the 64th Zimbabwe International Trade Fair (ZITF) in Bulawayo, Coltart said: “One of the reasons why the ZITF was established in Bulawayo was due to the fact that it was Zimbabwe’s industrial capital and the industrial hub of southern African and our vision is to restore that status.
“We have a massive task ahead of us and we are pleased that you have come to the ZITF and it is our hope that by coming you will see the city’s potential.”
This year’s exhibition is running under the theme: Innovation the Catalyst to Industrialisation and Trade. It will be officially opened by Kenyan President William Ruto.
Coltart called on visitors to Zimbabwe’s second largest city to understand its history, people, culture and arts.
He said the authorities in the city understood that attracting investors depended on certain prerequisites being met which included reliable water supplies.
“As we are all aware, due to climate change and the El Niño effect, the City of Bulawayo and the entire southern Africa region are facing one of the worst droughts ever.
“We face a major challenge in water delivery. Our first priority in the coming years is to expand our water resources. We are looking at the construction of a new water supply dam and other augmentation projects that will allow us to guarantee our residents, stakeholders and investors adequate water supplies,” he said.
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Coltart indicated that the city was also looking into ensuring cleanliness and sanitation.
“Unfortunately, in the last few years, our city has lost its status of being one of the cleanest cities in Africa. Our vision is to restore the status and we are working towards rehabilitating our sewerage works and we are also looking at a waste management facility that can tackle the litter that degrades Bulawayo,” he said.
“We are working on informal markets located in the periphery of the city centre. We have started with Egodini informal trading market and we are expanding to other centres around the periphery of the city into suburban areas, with the anticipation that it will give hope to the informal sector and enable the formal sector to also flourish.”
