Zimbabwe is seldom in gaming industry news, but today reports from Africa say that Harare City Council has signed a US$136 million deal with Qatar-based Vanessia General Trading for a joint venture that will include two hotel casinos. Harare council will be contributing the land and technical expertise with Vanessa providing finance and associated technology. At present Harare is on a drive to secure development funding for the city.

There are seven casinos in Zimbabwe, two of them in Harare. The Caribbea Bay Resort on Lake Kariba has seven table games and around sixty slot machines. The Plumtree Casino, on the main road to Botswana, has thirty-five slot machines. Harare also has a racetrack. The joint venture will build a casino hotel on a 5 hectare site at the corner of Airport Road and Harare Drive, but the other location has yet to be announced.

The development agreement with Vanessia General Trading also includes a shopping mall in Borrowdale West Extension. Construction of the projects is anticipated to be completed within five years. Recently Harare Council has entered into several land deals in order to procure finance or goods needed by the city. CBZ Bank obtained land in return for 35 service vehicles and a Ukranian company was granted 18.3 hectares of land to develop a residential suburb, hotel, inn and shopping mall. (E-10.08.07)

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