Norton changes as SEZ gathers speed

15

THE developers of the US$800 million Norton Business Park Special Economic Zone (NBP SEZ) — a massive varied use industrial and housing estate about 40 kilometres west of Harare — are opening up the throttle.

In an interview with The Financial Gazette this week, as an international tender for the water treatment works that will supply assured potable water to the SEZ and the surrounding community is being flighted in regional media, Gideon Gono — the driving force behind the project — said he was stepping on the gas to get the mega greenfield project up and running as soon as possible.

“One thing is for sure, Norton will never be the same again. It’s going to be a vibrant destination for investors — local and foreign alike.
“We want to make Zimbabwe and Norton proud once again, and failure is not an option,” the retired governor of the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) said.

NBP SEZ is an undertaking by Gono’s company TD Holdings. It is being developed with technical assistance from the Coega Development Corporation (CDC) — the award-winning South African public entity which developed and operates the 9 003 hectare Coega Special Economic Zone which was established in Port Elizabeth, in the Eastern Cape, in 1999.

“The NBP SEZ will be a varied use industrial zone providing required utilities to the prospective entities to operate in the SEZ. The water treatment works will supply assured potable water to the SEZ as well as the surrounding community.

“The NBP SEZ is being developed on two separate but connected pieces of land. In total, NBP comprises 388 hectares of industrial activities and 348 hectares of accommodation. In addition to the water plant and the mega accommodation estate, we are also building a 100MW solar plant for the SEZ and the local community, of which phase one of 30MW is already in progress and the ground-breaking will be in March 2021.

“Financial investors as well as material and other technical skills partners who are already on the ground include British, German, Dutch, South African and Chinese… all showing confidence in the Zimbabwean economy and its people,” Gono told The Financial Gazette during a tour of the site.

“Excess power will be fed into the national grid at a connection point through a sub-station located less than 50 metres inside the NBP SEZ.
“About 268 hectares of the SEZ is reserved and being developed for industrial, eco-tourism, aqua-culture, manufacturing, assembly, clean energy, essential healthcare, a hi-tech research hub for gifted youths and young adults in all spheres of human endeavours.

“About 348 hectares of land located seven kilometres from the business park, along the Harare-Bulawayo highway, are reserved for the SEZ housing and for the accommodation and recreation needs of local and foreign investors in the mining and other industries around Norton,” Gono added.

“All these developments have been researched on, feasibility studies carried out, engagement of relevant local and central government authorities done — with most of the approvals already secured or pending.

“All the projects earmarked for Norton have massive combined socio-economic benefits around employment generation, economic and industrial revitalisation, exports generation, import substitution, new technology introductions, agricultural and industrial beneficiation, provision of accommodation, generation of electricity and other forms of clean energy… and contributions to the fiscus and local communities in line with President Emmerson Mnangagwa’s and the nation’s Vision 2030 in terms of Zimbabwe’s aspirations to become an upper middle-income country,” he said further.

Norton is a dormitory town west of Harare which was developed as an industrial and commercial hub in the 1960s, and is home to vibrant agricultural activities surrounded by a diverse rich mineral deposit belt that is currently being mined by both large and small companies.

The town, which is in Mashonaland West, has a population of about 70 000 people, according to the 2012 census, and is growing very rapidly. TD Holdings’ relationship with the Coega as its implementing and investment partner does not only relate to the NBP SEZ, but also its EcoSoft Business Park (EBP) — which is located 22km out of Harare in Mashonaland East along the Murehwa-Nyamapanda highway.

“Both SEZs… complement each other in terms of activities, hence they are being implemented… under the CDC technical assistance and investment agreement,” Gono said.
The Norton water project arose out of the fact that there was a serious shortage of clean and affordable water in Zimbabwe — threatening individual, industrial and commercial public health in Zimbabwe.

With its population growing by the day, Norton Town Council (NTC) required about 20 mega litres of potable water per day to satisfy the needs of residents and business partners.
However, and according to local council statistics, the current supply was about five mega-litres — for only three days a week — creating a shortage of 15 mega litres per day of potable water.
Hunyani Pulp and Paper, which was decommissioned about 15 years ago, used to supply residents with water from its treatment plant, but this stopped when the company moved out of Norton. TD Holdings acquired the company’s premises and assets 12 years ago.

“Dealing with the water supply side of the challenge is critical to the successful implementation of the NBP SEZ because without a reliable source of water, no industrial or commercial activity can take place there in a sustainable way.

“Together with Coega and Dutch water experts, Royal Haskoning DHV, NBP engaged Norton Town Council and other stakeholders, and outlined its intentions to revive the old water treatment plant. “Thus, it was decided a new intake works (be created) at Lake Manyame… not just for the…business park, but also for Norton residents, who are currently being supplied by City of Harare, although the source of that water is a Norton lake,” Gono said.

Against this background, and after two years of feasibility studies, the tender to the water treatment works had at last been floated in newspapers in South Africa (SA) and Zimbabwe starting this month — and would remain open until February 2021.

“The development of any special economic zone demands that infrastructure such as water, electricity, factory shells, waste-water management systems, ICT, roads and rail infrastructure is available from day one, and that proximity to air traffic be within reach, while proximity to raw materials and markets, labour and accommodation is a must.

“Inviting investors from environments where they are used to 24/7 availability of the above basic enablers to your SEZ where power, water and other essential services are only available for two or three days in a week is a non-starter and a sure guarantee to failure.

“This explains our pre-occupation over the last couple of years towards putting these basics in place and inviting infrastructure investors first before operators, so that together we put up these imperatives,” Gono told The Financial Gazette.

“We are not yet done at NBP, but our vision is very clear and the determination to get it right is evidenced by who our technical partners and infrastructure investors are so far. It’s a global coalition of the determined, the motivated, the persistent and reliable,” he added.

While TD Holdings’ subsidiaries include an energy, capital division, Lunar Global Foods, Sunlands Eco-Estate and Redwing Agro-City, the sod turning for the SEZs is planned for March, with the advisory services focus being on the US$15 million water treatment plant and dry port valued at US$336 million.

In Zimbabwe, Coega, which is SA’s champion SEZ developer, has been quietly working with Gono’s company since March last year to realise the former CBZ Holdings Limited boss’ multi-sectoral 2030 vision, which aligns with the country’s aspirations for an upper middle class economy by the same period. With the parties extending this to 2063 — in line with the African Union’s continental goal — Gono said he was finalising his vision 2099.

“ Africa and Africans must begin to plan beyond their life-times… we must plant trees under whose shade… we will not seek refuge, but (seek to) leave a legacy for future generations. The youth look up to us to leave something for them and not plunder everything during our lifetime. I have an idea of what I would like TD Holdings to be when it enters the 22nd century in 80 years time, and at that time, my three-year-old grandchild will be 83… but inheritance and the heritage of investors… must be grown today (and) on a strong, and sustainable foundation… not wait for those years to come,” Gono said, adding “that’ is what we are doing for Mashonaland West and East… for the time being”.

“We plan to have investments in renewable energy in all provinces of the country to help alleviate power shortages and light up small towns if given an opportunity by those in charge of licensing. Meanwhile, plans are afoot for a private-sector investment conference on the sidelines of the multiple-project ground-breaking events earmarked for early next year and… we hope to raise… US$2 billion-plus for all projects we have been researching and doing feasibility, and bankability studies during the last five to seven years since I retired from government service,” he said.

“This initiative will support government’s national development strategy 2025 and the president’s 2030 Vision. We hope to unveil an attractive deck of investment opportunities that should speak to both local and foreign investors in the areas of infrastructure development, real estate, tourism, energy, agriculture and agribusiness, weed-harvesting from lakes, water and waste management,” Gono said.

“This compendium of projects is aimed at creating, and sustaining jobs, generating exports, attracting new technologies, promoting youth development in the area of innovation, science and technology, and generally contributing to the growth of our country’s GDP and including promotion of import substitution initiatives.” he told The Financial Gazette in an exclusive interview this week.
newsdesk@fingaz.co.zw