RUSHINGA Rural District Council, which made its debut exhibition at the just-ended Zimbabwe Agricultural Show in Harare, is now reaping the rewards as several entities have expressed interest in investing in the district.

In an interview, the local authority’s chief executive Mr Paradzayi Munyede said their exhibition at the national event was motivated by the desire to promote awareness about the district, as well as its investment opportunities.

“Our exhibition at the Zimbabwe Agricultural Show was an eye-opener,” he said.

“We realised that this show will give us an opportunity to market our district and barely a few days after its end, we are already receiving enquiries on business opportunities in the district. We are encouraged by the response we are getting from potential investors and individuals. We have vast business opportunities for commercial and industrial stands.

“We are utilising the five percent we were allocated from Central Government.”

Mr Munyede said because of their proximity to the famous Karanda Mission Hospital, they decided to market residential stands in the area and the response is already overwhelming.

“We have a number of residential stands up for grabs near Karanda Mission Hospital,” he said.

“We also want to join in the promotion of health tourism and we want to use Karanda Mission Hospital as a drawing card.”

Some of the commercial activities the district is well known for include cattle fattening, goat rearing and marketing, buying and processing of groundnuts, as well as hunting concessions.

“There are mining opportunities in the district,” said Mr Munyede.

“We have minerals like manganese and dolomite. Because of our location, we have one of the cleanest environments, where investors are not exposed to pollution associated with big cities.”

Mr Munyede said the district offered some of the brightest prospects in education investment because of its vast tracks of land.

“Although we have some schools with boarding facilities, investors are still welcome in this area,” he said.

“We are also promoting partnerships and we want more schools to be built in this area because an educated nation will surely develop.”

On the cattle fattening project, Mr Munyede said the district cattle auctioning programme was progressing well and attracting buyers from as far as Harare.

“The foot and mouth problem has since been addressed and cattle movement is now allowed,” he said.

“We are continuing with our auctioning programmes which are proving to be popular with both buyers and farmers.”