By Staff Reporter
CHIVHU — For decades, Chivhu has been known largely as a stopover town on one of Zimbabwe’s busiest transport corridors.
That identity is now being challenged by an ambitious urban development that seeks to turn the centrally located town into a major destination for investment, business and modern living.
The Chivhu Eco City, being developed by WestProp Holdings, is positioning itself as a new gateway city — combining residential neighbourhoods, commercial spaces, lifestyle amenities and a strong environmental component in a development that could reshape Chivhu’s economic outlook.
At the centre of the project is a simple proposition: that Chivhu’s greatest asset may be the very thing that has long defined it — its strategic location.
WestProp chief executive officer Ken Sharpe said the company deliberately looked beyond established property markets in search of an area with significant room for growth.
“We decided to look at something different, something no one has done before, to choose a location that is strategic, central, but lacks development, and that location is Chivhu,” Sharpe said.
The project forms part of WestProp’s wider expansion beyond Harare, where the property group has traditionally concentrated much of its development activity.
“We are happy to be expanding. We have previously concentrated our developments in Harare but due to demand and calls for outward growth, we have decided to make Chivhu our immediate target,” Sharpe said.
“We are going to be the corridor for growth in Chivhu and nearby centres.”
From transit town to urban centre
The scale of the vision is significant.
Rather than developing another conventional residential estate, WestProp says it wants Chivhu Eco City to evolve into a self-sustaining mixed-use urban centre where people can live, work, invest and access leisure facilities without having to depend entirely on larger cities.
Early infrastructure works are already visible, with road-opening activities underway across the development.
For a town seeking to attract new economic activity, such infrastructure could prove critical. Roads will provide the foundation for future residential communities, commercial precincts and supporting amenities as the project expands.
Market interest is also being reported in the Founders Phase, with buyers and investors seeking to secure property at the early stage of the development.
That early uptake is being interpreted by the developer as a sign of growing confidence in both the project and Chivhu’s longer-term prospects.
But the project’s appeal is not being built solely around location.
Making homeownership more accessible
WestProp is also seeking to address one of the biggest barriers facing prospective homeowners: affordability and access to long-term financing.
Sharpe said buyers in Chivhu would have access to mortgage terms of up to 30 years.
“For Chivhu, we are going further, this time offering 30-year mortgages, the longest payment terms possible in Zimbabwe today,” he said.
The longer repayment period is intended to make property ownership more accessible while maintaining the developer’s emphasis on quality and higher-end urban living.
If successful, the model could broaden the potential buyer base beyond traditional property investors and high-income purchasers.
Where the city meets the wild
Perhaps the most distinctive feature of the Chivhu project is its attempt to combine urban development with the natural environment.
Plans include extensive green spaces and a private game reserve, with the development designed around the idea that modern communities do not necessarily have to be separated from nature.
Sharpe said the vision was to create a symbiotic relationship between human habitats and the surrounding environment, allowing residents and visitors to experience indigenous wildlife and natural bushland alongside carefully planned homes and amenities.
That concept gives the project a different proposition from a conventional housing development: the landscape itself becomes part of the product.
A bigger bet on Chivhu
For WestProp, Chivhu Eco City represents more than another property project.
It is a bet that economic growth can be deliberately created outside Zimbabwe’s traditional urban centres — and that strategic positioning, infrastructure and private investment can turn a relatively underdeveloped location into a new economic node.
The developer is also relying on its existing track record and expanding national footprint to attract investors looking for an early position in what it describes as an emerging growth corridor.
The challenge, however, will be translating the ambitious vision into a functioning city.
Roads must be followed by homes, businesses, utilities, services and employment. Investor confidence must be sustained through delivery. And the environmental ambitions will have to coexist with the demands of large-scale urban development.
For now, construction activity and early sales are providing the first signs of momentum.
If WestProp delivers on its vision, Chivhu could eventually be known for far more than the traffic passing through it.
It could become a place where people stop — not because they are on their way somewhere else, but because Chivhu itself has become the destination
