Midlands Projects Showcase Government’s Development Drive, Industrialisation Agenda

Gweru — A government-led media tour of major projects in the Midlands Province has showcased progress in irrigation, energy, mining and higher education infrastructure, highlighting the province’s growing contribution to Zimbabwe’s broader industrialisation and development agenda.

Minister of Information, Publicity and Broadcasting Services Dr Zhemu Soda, who led journalists on the Midlands Media Tour, said the projects visited demonstrated practical progress towards the attainment of President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s Vision 2030, particularly through food security, energy self-sufficiency, job creation and education.

The tour covered the Bembe San irrigation project, a privately owned ferrochrome-producing company, and the E.D. Mnangagwa Law School in Kwekwe.

At Bembe San, journalists were taken through an irrigation development that is expected to benefit approximately 360 families once fully operational.

Minister Soda said substantial progress had been made at the project, with the pumping infrastructure already in place and connections to the power source underway.

The water channel from the dam to the irrigation fields has also been completed, with final installations expected to pave the way for water to reach the fields soon.

“By next month, water will be now getting to the field itself,” Minister Soda said.

He said the irrigation project would have a significant impact on the surrounding communities by strengthening food security, creating employment and supporting rural economic development.

The availability of water from Bembe San Dam throughout the year, he said, provides a strong foundation for sustained agricultural production while helping communities respond to the effects of climate change.

The project also dovetails with the Government’s thrust of transforming rural communities into productive economic centres through infrastructure development and industrialisation.
From agriculture, the media tour moved into the mining and energy sector, where journalists visited a privately owned ferrochrome-producing company.

The company demonstrated its smelting operations and outlined plans to develop its own energy generation capacity as it seeks to reduce reliance on electricity from the national grid.
The company is developing a 20MW solar power plant, which Minister Soda said was consistent with Government’s call for major electricity consumers to develop captive power generation capacity.

The move comes against the background of Government’s efforts to ensure that industries that consume large amounts of electricity increasingly assume greater responsibility for meeting their energy requirements.

Minister Soda said the company was expected to move towards its own power generation capacity, with the 20MW solar plant anticipated to be operational within the coming months.

He said the development would ultimately help release electricity currently being consumed by the mining operation for use elsewhere in the economy.

“This is in line with the call by His Excellency that those major consumers of electricity must have their own power,” he said.

The company also outlined plans for a further 50MW thermal power project, known as VEST, which would complement the solar investment.

Minister Soda said such investments were important in strengthening Zimbabwe’s energy security, which remains a critical enabler of industrialisation.

The developments also come as Government works towards transitioning major electricity consumers currently benefiting from subsidised tariffs towards commercial tariffs by 2027.

For the mining sector, the move towards captive power generation offers an opportunity to secure reliable energy for production while contributing to the broader availability of electricity for other economic activities.

The final stop on the tour was the E.D. Mnangagwa Law School in Kwekwe, where journalists were taken through infrastructure development at the institution.

Management outlined progress at the law school and revealed that plans were underway to introduce two additional faculties, with construction and other preparatory work already in progress.

The institution is also expanding accommodation infrastructure, with hostels being developed through pension funds.

According to Minister Soda, construction of the hostels had progressed significantly and they were expected to be available within approximately four months.

The additional accommodation is expected to ease the movement and accommodation challenges faced by students attending the institution.

Beyond its role as an educational facility, Minister Soda said the E.D. Mnangagwa Law School would contribute to the Government’s Education 5.0 thrust by creating opportunities for students to participate in innovation, research and the industrialisation of the economy.

The media tour therefore provided journalists with a practical view of how projects in different sectors are being positioned to support Zimbabwe’s development objectives.

From the fields of Bembe San, where irrigation infrastructure is expected to transform agricultural production for hundreds of families, to the furnaces of the ferrochrome industry and the classrooms and hostels of the E.D. Mnangagwa Law School, the projects reflect an emphasis on productive infrastructure as a foundation for economic growth.

Minister Soda said the developments were part of the broader efforts towards achieving Vision 2030 by ensuring that critical enablers such as food production, energy and human capital development receive sustained investment.

For the Midlands Province, the projects also demonstrate the intersection between agriculture, mining, energy and education — sectors that are central to the province’s economic development and its contribution to national industrialisation.

The media tour comes as Government continues to encourage increased investment in productive sectors, value addition and beneficiation, renewable energy and infrastructure development as Zimbabwe pursues a more resilient and self-sustaining economy.