Zimbabwe’s government has commissioned a US$500 million Cyber City project in Harare. Dubai-based billionaire Shaji Ul Mulk pledged to fund the project.
Ul Mulk jetted into the country on Sunday specifically for the event.
The multi-million-dollar project is likely to give Mnangagwa a smile on the face after fruitless efforts to woo investors into the country over the past four years.
Ul Mulk told a local publisher that the project would include villas, cyber technology offices, shopping malls and construction of the tallest tower in Africa to be called Mulk Towers, as well as recreational facilities, which would all be constructed on 2,5 million square metre of land.
The envisioned city, meant to decongest Harare, drew land from Zvimba Rural District Council, Mazowe Rural District Council and Harare and is near the recently-completed Parliament building. The new Parliament building is the first arm of government to be located in the area.
“This is the third time to be here in Zimbabwe and I am happy with the progress that we have made with the government of Zimbabwe. It was all talk but now we are starting the implementation stage. We are happy with the support that we have received from the President of Zimbabwe,” Ul Mulk said.
The first phase of the project would be completed in the next two years. Local businessman Tempter Tungwarara, who first brought the investor, said he was ecstatic that his efforts were finally coming to fruition.
“I am happy that I am able to contribute in a small way to my country. I stayed in Dubai and unlike other people who badmouth their country, I sold the Zimbabwean dream to investors and I am happy Ul Mulk and other consortiums of investors believed it,” he said.
According to its website, Mulk Holdings owns and manages a group of 14 companies under the leadership of Ul Mulk, who has resided in the Middle East for more than two decades. The company follows a philosophy of strategic partnerships and has successfully entered into joint ventures with powerful partners around the globe.