Almot Maqolo, Staff Writer 
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“Those sales are happening 100 percent in US dollars. The same applies with the housing we are building in Westgate, where the sales are also in US dollars, but on the rental front, yes, we are also trying. I think we have gone above the 50 percent mark,” he said.
MASHONALAND Holdings (Mash Holdings) says it expects its foreign currency denominated full year revenue to stand at 75 percent in an increasingly dollarising economy.
More than three-quarters of domestic spending is now in foreign currency, according to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency.
The chief executive of the property concern, Gibson Mapfidza, told The Financial Gazette on the sidelines of the company’s annual general meeting recently that the group has been gradually growing the US dollar topline.
“The idea, I think, in the market is to try and solidify your position and US dollars revenue does that very well. When you also look at our business, we are trying to diversify and do projects. Contractors are charging in US dollars for building materials, and when you do that, you reduce your cost,” he said.
“So, when you look at 2022, when we started the year, our US dollar component was around 25 percent of the total revenue; thankfully, we have managed to grow that number. We are sitting at 58 percent of our revenue in US dollars and the other 42 percent is still in ZWL.”
He said the thrust going forward is to grow the US dollar component by selling fully serviced stands.
“Those sales are happening 100 percent in US dollars. The same applies with the housing we are building in Westgate, where the sales are also in US dollars, but on the rental front, yes, we are also trying. I think we have gone above the 50 percent mark,” he said.Mash Holdings has been making regular rental adjustments to keep pace with market developments.
“It is really through engagement with tenants, but it’s not just blind engagement; what we do is go closer to our customers, understand their business model, and only target those of our tenants who also make their revenues in US dollars because one of our corporate values is to be fair.
“We don’t want to force our tenants to go and change money so that they are able to pay rentals in US dollars, but we really are saying if you are making revenue in US dollars, why not also pay a portion of those rentals in US dollars. Where they can afford 100 percent, then we convert the whole lease agreement to US dollars.
“What it does for them is bring a lot of stability… Our target for 2023, our total revenue projects plus rentals, is to achieve 75 percent of our total revenue in 2023 in US dollars,” Mapfidza said.
The property investment and development firm said the occupier sub-market continues to suffer from high voids in the central business district office sector due to sluggish economic activity.
