Zimbabwe’s China Funded Parliamentary Building Complete

Idress Osman

Zimbabwe’s new parliament building Built by Shanghai Construction Group (SCG) and fully funded by the Chinese government as “a gift to the people of Zimbabwe to the southern African country, is now complete and ready for occupation, with amount costs of 140 million US$ dollars.

It took 42 months to complete the project, instead of the original 32-month timeframe due to COVID-19 disruptions. Construction began in November 2018.

Sitting on the historical Mount Hampden Hill, about 18 km northwest of Harare, the capital of Zimbabwe, the six-story building is a fine piece of magnificent architecture that fuses both Zimbabwean and Chinese characteristics.The new parliament building was one of the most important projects in China-Africa cooperation, aimed at strengthening friendship and solidarity between the people of Zimbabwe and China while improving facilities in parliament for better service to Zimbabwean people.
The imposing building has a combined floor space of 33,000 square meters, with two main sections — a six-story office building and a four-story parliament building. The office building and parliament building are connected by three bridges on each floor.

The office building contains 600 rooms, including offices for VIP, Members of Parliament and parliament officials.

In total, the building has the capacity to accommodate 1,000 people.

The Parliament building is the second major infrastructure “donation” to Zimbabwe by China after Beijing constructed the country’s biggest stadium in 1987.

China became a major partner to Africa in recent times, with China being Africa’s biggest and strongest ally in my opinion. Especially considering that in recent years China has pumped millions of dollars into the continent, funding one mega project after another.

It also contributed to many parliaments in Africa like , in DR Congo, Malawi, Guinea Bissau, Lesotho, Gabon and Sirrea Leon.