Zimbabwe's wealthiest entrepreneur, Strive Masiyiwa, is pressing ahead with one of his most ambitious undertakings yet — a billion-dollar technology city on an 800-acre site near Harare's main airport. Branded Econet Tech City, the project is designed to position Zimbabwe as a competitive destination for international industrial and high-tech investment, placing it alongside regional hubs in Lagos, Nairobi, Cape Town, and Kigali.
Econet InfraCo: The Corporate Engine Behind the Project
The development will be managed by Econet InfraCo, a standalone infrastructure platform that consolidates Econet Wireless Zimbabwe's telecommunications towers, renewable energy systems, and strategic real estate holdings. Listed on the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange under the ticker INFR.VX, the entity was introduced to the US dollar-denominated bourse on 31 March by way of introduction — meaning no fresh capital was raised at listing. Econet InfraCo is projected to carry a market valuation of one billion dollars, making it the 16th equity on the exchange.
A Self-Sustaining Industrial Ecosystem
Masiyiwa has been explicit about the philosophy underpinning the project. Speaking on the rationale for the hub model, he said modern international investors require environments where essential services — power, water, fibre and satellite connectivity, industrial waste management, security, street lighting, and staff transport — are available from day one, without navigating complex local planning or licensing processes. Econet Tech City is intended to function as precisely that kind of one-stop shop. Plans include a shopping mall and clinic within the perimeter, though housing and office blocks are excluded from the initial scope. Security infrastructure will comprise perimeter fortifications, round-the-clock manned guarding, comprehensive CCTV surveillance, and aerial drone monitoring.
Jobs, Investment, and Government Partnership
Once fully operational, the hub is projected to accommodate approximately 300 businesses and generate more than 20,000 jobs, which would make it the largest private-sector development initiative in Zimbabwe's recent history. Masiyiwa acknowledged that government cooperation remains critical to meeting timelines, noting that the site could be completed within two years from Econet's side, but that state-backed incentives for incoming businesses would be decisive. The tech city ambition forms part of a broader technology push by Masiyiwa, which includes a partnership with NVIDIA to build artificial intelligence factories across Africa and a joint venture with a United States firm aimed at accelerating stablecoin adoption on the continent.
