EPWORTH TO EXPLODE INTO ONE OF HARARE’S MODERN BUSINESS HUB
Staff Writer
The Epworth Local Board has launched an aggressive, multifaceted strategic campaign designed to fundamentally re-engineer the trans-disciplinary layout of Epworth. Under its newly projected urban masterplan, the local authority is shifting from a historically informal settlement into a state-of-the-art commercial and industrial powerhouse. This ambitious blueprint anchors Epworth’s economic future on groundbreaking infrastructural projects, including the establishment of a world-class Farmers Market, a specialized airport industry zone, and a network of several vocational training centers to build a highly skilled workforce.
Central to this structural overhaul is a robust macro-economic focus on Local Economic Development (LED) and technical skill acquisition, designed to eradicate structural informality. The projected vocational training centers will scale up the success of the existing €130,000 Community Enterprise Resource Centre funded by the European Union. These new institutions will provide small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with advanced engineering machinery for precise steel production and intricate woodworking, directly stimulating high-value manufacturing. Concurrently, the state-of-the-art Farmers Market will expand localized commercial spaces, building on the agricultural and retail hubs at the Glenwood Shopping Centre to offer secure, structured, and modern operating environments equipped with proper public health infrastructure.
In an exclusive briefing regarding this comprehensive developmental trajectory, Epworth Local Board Town Secretary, Dr Wilton Mhanda, articulated the board’s unyielding vision for complete economic revitalization and administrative evolution:
“We are methodically executing a deliberate, non-negotiable transition to eradicate historic structural inefficiencies and catalyze high-yield corporate and private investment. By deploying robust capital assets through our masterplan—such as the new Farmers Market, vocational institutions, and strategic airport industrial links—we are actively transitioning our workforce from survivalist trading to high-tier industrial manufacturing. Epworth is no longer a passive satellite residential area; it is rapidly emerging as a competitive, self-sustaining metropolis with the legislative, physical, and financial capacity to support modern commercial ventures.”
To sustain this rapidly accelerating industrial expansion and support the upcoming airport industry, the local authority is executing wide-ranging civil engineering initiatives. Leveraging resources from the Zimbabwe National Road Administration (ZINARA) and the Constituency Development Fund (CDF), the board has embarked on comprehensive road rehabilitation, encompassing pavement expansion, shoulder stabilization, and the installation of complex stormwater drainage networks. This critical logistical optimization ensures seamless supply chain connectivity for local businesses.
Furthermore, the council is aggressively addressing utilities management by designing a high-capacity water treatment plant to secure water equity, alongside deploying robust waste mitigation strategies like tactical skip bin placement across commercial nodes. Ultimately, these combined efforts aim to elevate Epworth’s urban administrative status by 2030, transforming the area into an elite, technologically integrated, and inclusive corporate hub capable of driving national macro-economic growth.
