Strive Masiyiwa is advancing plans to build Econet Tech City in Zimbabwe, a large-scale industrial and technology hub near Harare, designed to host hundreds of companies with integrated power, digital infrastructure, and logistics. Positioned as a one-stop operating environment, the project, led through Econet InfraCo, aims to remove the structural barriers that make it difficult to build and scale businesses across much of Africa.
Econet Tech City is not a startup hub in the traditional sense.
It is closer to an industrial-tech zone engineered for efficiency. Public disclosures and reporting indicate that the development will span roughly 300 hectares, with an ambition to attract approximately 300 companies and create more than 20,000 jobs. The planned infrastructure includes a 100MW solar power plant, a 10MW data centre, fibre connectivity, logistics systems, and controlled security. The project will provide power, water, fibre, satellite connectivity, waste management, security, transport, and even support services for the tenants. Businesses operating in Africa often spend years solving for electricity, connectivity, permits, and basic services before they can begin meaningful production. Masiyiwa wants to eliminate that delay.
The development is expected to be fully secured, with perimeter walls, 24-hour guards, CCTV systems, and drone surveillance. Beyond industrial facilities, it will also include supporting infrastructure such as a shopping mall and a clinic, though notably excluding residential housing. The aim, as Masiyiwa described it, is to create a self-sufficient city within a city that improves on older industrial zones.
Through Cassava Technologies, Masiyiwa has already been building a continental digital backbone spanning fibre networks, data centres, and cloud infrastructure, including emerging investments in artificial intelligence capacity. Econet Tech City fits into this ecosystem as the physical layer — providing land, power, and operational readiness — while Cassava provides the digital layer. Together, they form an integrated infrastructure stack designed to support African enterprises from incorporation through to scale.
Zimbabwe continues to face structural economic constraints, including persistent energy shortages, regulatory inefficiencies, and investor caution. Power disruptions alone have been estimated to significantly affect economic output, while business formation remains slowed by administrative complexity. In this environment, Econet Tech City represents an attempt to create a controlled, high-efficiency zone that bypasses some of these systemic bottlenecks.
Modern international investors don’t like hassles when they plan to build a factory or high tech facility, like a Data Centre. They prefer locations where everything they need – such as power, water, fibre and satellite connectivity, industrial waste management, security, street lighting and staff transport – is readily available. They don’t want to be burdened with complex local planning approvals or licensing processes. These industrial hubs operate as a one-stop shop, managed by local experts who handle everything for them
Strive Masiyiwa
Masiyiwa points to industrial hubs in both Africa and Asia, particularly developments like Eko Atlantic in Lagos, where his own data centre business already operates as an inspiration for establishing the tech city. His observation is that modern investors are not looking for opportunity alone; they are looking for readiness, and that includes creating environments where infrastructure is pre-built to attract global capital.
While its ambition is clear, key elements are still unknown. There is no fully detailed financing structure in the public domain, no confirmed list of anchor tenants, and no finalised incentive framework agreed with the government. Masiyiwa has suggested that the core site could be completed within two years from Econet’s side, but he has also made it clear that government incentives and regulatory alignment will be decisive. Zimbabwe is not competing in isolation; it is competing against cities like Lagos, Cape Town, Nairobi, and Kigali for the same pool of global investment.
Mayisiwa is not the first to identify the bottlenecks hindering the growth and scale of African businesses. Itana in Nigeria, among a host of other ecosystems, stands out for seeking to address the infrastructural and regulatory challenges to the growth of businesses.
Founded by Iyinoluwa Aboyeji and Luqman Edu, Itana addresses a different layer of the same problem. Where Econet Tech City focuses on physical infrastructure — power, logistics, connectivity — Itana focuses on institutional infrastructure, offering streamlined company formation, regulatory clarity, and multi-currency business operations.
Taken together, these projects reveal a deeper shift in how African economic development is being approached. Both approaches recognise that the constraints facing African businesses are not only about capital or talent, but about the systems surrounding them. Econet Tech City attempts to address this through infrastructure, while Itana attempts to address it through regulation.
The success of Econet Tech City will be measured by its integration into the broader economy. If it becomes an isolated, high-end enclave, its impact will be limited. If it succeeds in attracting a mix of local and international firms, enabling exports, supporting startups, and linking into Zimbabwe’s wider economic fabric, it could serve as a meaningful node in Africa’s evolving digital and industrial landscape.
In that sense, the project is neither a guaranteed breakthrough nor an empty promise. It is a calculated infrastructure bet. If it works, it will not simply create a tech hub in Zimbabwe. It will demonstrate that Africa can build not just companies, but the environments those companies need to thrive.
