Joina City Opens in Harare
Harare's skyline has been transformed with the completion of the Joina City, a multi-million AA grade multi-purpose commercial building, the first of its kind in Zimbabwe. The imposing super structure, which opened its retail section to the public at the end of March, is set to make the concept of indoor shopping a reality in Zimbabwe.
A spokesperson for the Joina Development Company, the developers of the project recently told Construction Review that most major works were complete and the property would be opened in two phases, starting with the retail section.
The tower rises to a total 23 stories over the Harare skyline.
Facilities
"The Joina City is a multi-purpose commercial building in the central business district of Harare. It is the largest building of its or any other kind that has been built in Zimbabwe and totals 64,550m2 of space," the spokesperson said.
"The total lettable area is 28,000m2, broken down into 16,000m2 of retail and 12,000m2 of office space. The building has three basements of parking, with a total of 600 parking bays. The complex houses 66 shops, movie houses, restaurants, banks and other anchor businesses.”
"This project is unique in many ways. It has indoor shopping and parking, which is rare in Zimbabwe. The marketing and management plan are so unique and will provide Zimbabwean people with a breath of fresh air." He said as an AA grade building the Joina City has attracted top blue chip companies—including several international brands—for both the retail and office space.
"For retailers coming into this building, they will have a a wide variety of services housed in the tower, plus lots of parking which would take away parking and security worries associated with Harare's CBD.”
Challenges
The project started in 1997 and was dogged by many problems, chief among them being the perennial shortage of foreign exchange needed to import most raw materials needed to give the building its AA grade status.
"This project was not only the largest to be built in the country, but was built at the most challenging period of Zimbabwe's history. The biggest challenge was the shortage of foreign currency, which translated into shortage of building materials.
With reference to fixtures and fittings, 90 percent of the finished products were imported, meaning that foreign currency was not a luxury on this project. This slowed down progress sometimes to a halt, while we attempted to source foreign exchange. Fuel, electricity cuts and loss of specialist skills to the region has also negatively affected the project.”
Project Investors
Zimbabwean conglomerate FMI Holdings headed by businessman Shingai Mutasa are the promoters of the Joina City project. Two investment vehicles—Dubury Investments and Cherryfield Investments—hold the shareholding in the development. Dubury Investments comprises of FMIK Holdings and Kingdom Holdings of Saudi Arabia while Cherryfield Investments is made up of mostly public institutions with a few private companies. These are the Communications and Allied Pension Fund, Local Authorities Pension Fund, National Railways of Zimbabwe, Zimnat Life and Melville Investments.
The name Joina was Shingai Mutasa's mother's name and the centre is a brainchild of Mutasa, who has always had a passion for the infrastructure/property development industry in Zimbabwe and the African region. About two decades ago, Mutasa made a decision to become a player in the property industry and Joina is a result of that commitment.
Interestingly Shingai through Joina Development Company (wholly owned by FMI Holdings Private Limited) has been involved in many successful property developments on the African continent. Joina Development Company remains the vehicle by which FMI Holdings develops Zimbabwe and Africa.
