LIVINGSTONE MARUFU
The construction of the US$80m Afreximbank Africa Trade Centres (AATC) in Harare began on Thursday with a groundbreaking ceremony as Zimbabwe eyes trade hub status in the region.
The project will be completed in January 2025.
Speaking at the groundbreaking ceremony, Afreximbank director and global head Administration Robert Tomusange said the AATC will take 28 months to complete.
The AATC will house Afreximbank’s permanent regional office, a World-class hotel, a trade information centre, a major conference centre and a tech incubation lab.
The centre is also set to accommodate other regional, continental, and global financial and development institutions. AATC will facilitate the flow of trade information and provide trade services across the Southern African Region.
“The building we expect to put up on this prime piece of land is expected to be an iconic, futuristic, land and one stop shop geared towards the promotion of trade and trading activities of the Southern Africa region.
“The trade centre will include a hotel, incubation hub for young people and innovation centres,” Tomusange said.
He said the trade centre will bear a testimony that Zimbabwe is open for business.
“The trade centre will attract a number of international corporates and finance institutions and all institutions along the value chain,”Tomusange said.
He said the facility is going to positively impact the local economy.
In 2019, Afreximbank selected Zimbabwe and Nigeria to host the first Africa Trade Centres.
Last year, Zimbabwe donated the land to Afreximbank for the construction of regional offices and the trade centre.
