Property needs more than bricks

109

Leonita Mhishi

FOR years, Zimbabwe’s property conversation has been dominated by one seductive question: how much is the stand?

But perhaps the more important ques­tion now is: what economic activity will the stand support?

That distinction matters because Zim­babwe’s real estate sector is entering a different phase. The strongest opportu­nities may no longer be found simply by buying land, building walls and waiting for prices to rise. They will increasingly depend on capital, investor confidence, reliable data, urban planning, technology and, most importantly, whether people and businesses actually want to occupy the spaces being built.

This is where the perspective of a chief executive becomes useful. A CEO does not look at a property merely as concrete, glass and steel. The question is wheth­er the asset can attract tenants, generate cash flow, preserve value and connect to a wider economic ecosystem. Zimbabwe needs more of this thinking.

The geography of economic activity is changing. Harare remains the dom­inant commercial centre, but Victoria Falls is rapidly acquiring a second identi­ty — not merely as the country’s tourism capital, but as an emerging financial and investment hub.

The establishment of the Victoria Falls International Financial Centre (VFIFC) is particularly significant. Gov­ernment established the centre through Statutory Instrument 29 of 2025 with the stated ambition of positioning Victoria Falls as a premier financial hub and at­tracting foreign direct investment into ventures, infrastructure and development projects. That has implications far be­yond banking.

A financial centre requires offices. Of­fices require accommodation. Executives require homes. Employees require retail, schools, healthcare, restaurants and en­tertainment. Investors require conference facilities, transport and digital infrastruc­ture. In other words, financial activity can create a property ecosystem.

And the timing is interesting.

In June this year, the VFIFC formally began full-scale operations, with 38 insti­tutions licensed as participants. The cen­tre’s own description is equally revealing: it is designed to connect global capital with investment opportunities in Zimba­bwe and the wider sub-Saharan African region, with banking, capital markets, asset management, insurance, fintech and investment advisory among its targeted activities.

For property investors, that should sound less like a regulatory announce­ment and more like a development sig­nal.

But there is a warning. Capital fol­lows confidence.

Zimbabwe can construct the most attractive office park in the region, but if investors remain uncertain about policy, currency, infrastructure, municipal ser­vices or the ability to repatriate returns, the buildings alone will not solve the problem.

This is why investor confidence must be treated as real estate infrastructure.

The country has already seen how quickly economic uncertainty can alter investment behaviour. Property has in­creasingly been viewed by Zimbabweans as a store of value amid currency and market volatility, with reports in 2025 highlighting increased demand from cash buyers.

That tells us something important, but it should not be confused with a healthy property market. A market driven pri­marily by people trying to protect their money is different from one driven by productive investment.

The stronger market is one where pension funds, insurance companies, RE­ITs, banks, private equity investors, dias­pora capital and international investors can confidently place long-term money into professionally managed assets.

This is where Zimbabwe’s capi­tal-market reforms could become import­ant for property.

The VFIFC is explicitly being posi­tioned around a broader capital-market architecture, while the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange has become increasingly central to the country’s attempt to devel­op US-dollar investment instruments. The policy direction is towards a more diversified capital market that includes REITs, exchange-traded funds and other investment products rather than relying solely on traditional equities.

That could eventually change the rela­tionship between an ordinary Zimbabwe­an and commercial property.

Instead of needing millions of dollars to buy an office block, an investor could potentially gain exposure to professional­ly managed property through a REIT or similar instrument.

That is how real estate becomes part of the financial system rather than re­maining a preserve of wealthy individu­als and developers.

Institutional participation therefore matters enormously.

Pension funds, insurers and asset managers have patient capital. They can invest for years rather than months. If regulatory certainty, governance and transparent valuation improve, institu­tional capital could help finance the ware­houses, shopping centres, student accom­modation, healthcare facilities, hotels and mixed-use developments Zimbabwe des­perately needs.

But institutions need something de­velopers have historically undervalued: data. The property sector cannot mature while investors are forced to make de­cisions based on anecdotes, WhatsApp messages and asking prices.

How many offices are actually occu­pied? What is the average rent collected rather than advertised? Which suburbs have rising demand? How many resi­dential units remain vacant? What is the default rate? What is the pipeline of new construction? Which areas have reliable water and electricity? Where are busi­nesses moving?

These are not academic questions. They determine whether a development makes money.

Zimbabwe’s broader economy is al­ready generating evidence that demand is moving in different directions. ZimStat says the economy grew by 8,29 percent in 2025, with manufacturing, mining, ag­riculture, wholesale and retail among the largest contributors. Accommodation and food services grew by 12,8 percent.

For property developers, those num­bers should translate into questions about where economic activity is physically occurring.

A growing manufacturing sector needs industrial space and logistics. Min­ing needs accommodation, warehouses, offices and worker housing. Retail needs modern distribution networks. Tourism needs hotels and short-stay accommo­dation. This is why planning matters. Building what looks attractive today may produce an obsolete asset tomorrow.

Technology is making this even more important. Property companies increas­ingly have access to digital listing data, geographic information systems, cus­tomer analytics, smart-building systems and online transaction platforms. The next generation of Zimbabwean property companies should be using technology not simply to advertise buildings, but to understand behaviour.

A shopping centre should know when customers arrive. A landlord should know where vacancies are emerging. A hotel should understand booking patterns. A residential developer should know which household segments can actual­ly afford its product. And a city should know where congestion, infrastructure pressure and new economic activity are heading.

Victoria Falls provides perhaps the clearest illustration of how demand can reshape property.

Tourism remains a major economic force. Zimbabwe recorded 1,777,569 tourist arrivals in 2025, up 10 percent from 2024, according to Treasury figures. The final quarter alone recorded 463,815 arrivals.

The city is also being positioned for more than leisure tourism. Government has highlighted opportunities around hotels, restaurants, convention facilities and the Masuwe area, including accom­modation, medical, sports and MICE tourism.

Victoria Falls authorities have also said the city needs additional hotel ca­pacity, with a reported shortage of about 2,200 beds. That is the kind of market signal developers should understand.

It is not simply a story about con­structing hotels. It is a story about cre­ating an urban economy capable of supporting international business, con­ferences, finance, tourism and residential demand.

Yet demand must still be interrogated carefully.

Treasury’s 2025 mid-term review reported average hotel occupancy at 37 percent nationally, down from 39 percent in 2024. This is a useful reminder that impressive visitor numbers do not auto­matically mean every hospitality devel­opment will succeed.

The lesson is simple: market demand must be measured, not assumed. Zimba­bwe’s real estate sector therefore stands at an interesting crossroads.

The easy money may not necessarily be in the next piece of land. The bigger opportunity may lie in developing assets around the country’s emerging economic corridors and understanding what busi­nesses, tourists, households and investors will need five or 10 years from now.

The question should be brutally prac­tical: Who is going to use this building, how often, at what price and for how long? If the answer is unclear, the project may be speculation disguised as develop­ment.

If the answer is supported by data, planning, infrastructure and credible capital, the building becomes something much more valuable: economic infra­structure.

Zimbabwe does not have a shortage of ambition. It has a shortage of invest­able certainty. The next chapter of real estate must therefore be about more than construction. It must be about confidence, institutional capital, technology, planning and evidence.

The winners will not necessarily be those who own the most land. They will be those who understand where Zim­babwe’s economic activity is moving — and have the courage, capital and in­formation to build there before everyone else sees it.

l Mhishi is the Principal Registered Es­tate Agent at HSP REALTY and can be reached on +263 772 329 569 or via email at leonita@hsp.co.zw