Staff Writer 
ZIMBABWE’S infrastructure drive presents vast opportunities for local companies, with thousands of kilometres of roadworks and expanding contractor participation creating room for growth, Fossil Contracting chief executive Obey Chimuka has said.
Addressing the ZIM CEOs Policy Round-table 2026 in Victoria Falls, Chimuka said the country’s construction sector had evolved from modest beginnings during the Government of National Unity era into a space rich with potential for Zimbabweans willing to take risks and build capacity.
“If you had any piece of equipment worth mentioning, there was work for you. And that was a huge opportunity that presented itself. And I said to myself, I would want to enter this space,” he said.
Chimuka recalled entering the sector with limited resources, despite scepticism from his brother, businessman Kudakwashe Tagwirei. “He says,” Obey you are going to embarrass me, you don’t know roads, you are not an engineer,” he said.
He said early trust from clients proved pivotal to the company’s growth. Fossil Contracting’s first project was a road to Tagwirei’s residence, followed by a major contract with Zimplats. “It was a lucrative contract that allowed us to buy lots of equipment and it is because these people decided to trust us,” Chimuka said.
The company’s breakthrough came in 2017 when it was among five contractors selected to work on the Harare-Beitbridge highway project. “We did a huge amount of work in a short period, allowing us to build capacity and trust that we can do it ourselves,” he said.
Chimuka said large-scale projects such as the Trabablas Interchange were initially met with scepticism, but he was advised to focus on delivery. “Obey don’t respond to backlash, the Trabablas itself will respond. What we will build will respond for itself; it’s a product that everyone will see,” he said, recalling Tagwirei’s counsel.
He added: “I said but I have never built a Trabablas, and he said the person who built the first, who did they do a Trabablas? Don’t you realise that there is always a pioneer in every sector?”
