This month, Endeavour had the joy of speaking with several companies that are making a positive difference in Zimbabwe, from its infrastructure to its healthcare. These developments come as the country’s economy continues to recover under its new leadership, and are also the result of longer-term efforts from Zimbabwean nationals and foreign investors alike. Profeeds Limites, subsidary of Progroup Holdings, not only provides high-quality feed for Zimbabwe’s essential agriculture sector, but also supports its small-scale farmers through game-changing training. Meanwhile, the National Blood Service of Zimbabwe has made changes to keep itself well stocked in the wake of the law change that makes blood free for Zimbabwean patients, whereas before it was only accessible at a price per unit. This change could literally save lives for Zimbabwe’s poorer citizens.
Lastly, we spoke with National Railways of Zimbabwe (NRZ). The company is finally able to overhaul Zimbabwe’s railway tracks, which were first laid down in 1890. The organization, with the support of the government and its investor, is embarking upon a vast rebuild of the entire railway system, from its tracks to its signals to the locomotives themselves. In total, the overhaul is estimated to cost well over US$1 billion, and could take up to 25 years to complete. However, every step of improvement could have a great impact on the country in terms of tourism and trade, injecting life and fruitful movement into multiple industries.
A similar situation is also true for GRU Airport, the Brazilian international terminal in São Paulo, which expects to see a boom in its already leading business in the area thanks to the reduction of a fuel tax from the São Paulo government. We spoke with GRU to get their perspective on the changes this could mean for not only the terminal, but for São Paulo and beyond.
Finally, to wrap up this theme, we spoke with our cover story – Abu Dhabi’s Department of Culture and Tourism. This department expects great things for the promotion and preservation of Abu Dhabi’s culture, and well as its business and development; boons that the department also expects to see ripple beyond its city to the UAE as a whole.
These wider benefits of tourism were a perfect topic to dig into as we start eyeing our summer holidays on the horizon, and we hope you find these case studies as interesting as we did!
