A local environmental consultancy firm, SustiGlobal, has set a major milestone after clocking over US$6 billion worth of investment and infrastructure projects in its first decade in business.
SustiGlobal, which integrates environmental, engineering, and development consultancy, conducted environmental and social impact assessments (ESIA) in nearly 160 major projects in the country and the region.
The uptick of investments in recent years, especially with the proliferation of Chinese investments, has increased demand for ESIAs as a key pillar for sustainability. In Zimbabwe, the Environmental Management Agency approves ESIAs for projects with significant environmental (natural or biophysical) and social impacts, which is a legal requirement under the Environmental Management Act.
“Since inception, we have exponentially grown to be a significant player in the sustainability consultancy industry by being clients’ best choice,” says SustiGlobal founder and chairman, Oliver Mutasa.
“Being a multi-faceted advisory company, we pride in our vast hands-on experience in offering environmental management, occupational health safety, quality management, baseline surveys, and GIS services that are designed to surpass international standards and environmental capacity building of various communities and stakeholders,” Mutasa says.
The firm has undertaken ESIA for 155 projects worth a cumulative USD 6,7 billion according to Mutasa. These include:
1. Upgrading of Deka Pump Station (by ZPC) to bring more water to Hwange Power Station, 7 & 8 Expansion,
2. Zimbabwe-Zambia-Botswana-Namibia (ZIZABONA) 400kV Interconnector line from Hwange to Botswana and Zambia borders, including Resettlement Action Plans,
3. Afrochine Smelting’s Plant expansions and furnace stack emissions monitoring since 2018,
4. Dinson’s Manhize Iron and Steel Smelting Plant and auxiliary sub-projects in Manhize area, Chirumhanzu District.
5. Dinson’s twin 400kV and 88kV Transmission line from Sherwood to Manhize including Resettlement Action Plants and compensation of affected villagers,
6. Zimbabwe Zhongxin Chrome Smelter in Mashava, next to Tokwe Substation in Masvingo,
7. Zimbabwe Revenue Authority (ZIMRA) Head Office in Mt Pleasant Business Park,
8. Cut Rag Processors’ Lochinvar Cigarettes Manufacturing Plant,
9. Zimbabwe Power Company (ZPC)’s Munyati Thermal Power Station Repowering Project,
10. Development of ZETDC’s Environmental & Social Management System to guide how transmission ESIAs and RAPs are undertaken,
11. United Nations Office for Projects (UNOPS)’ Rehabilitation of twelve weirs and water gauging stations in Manicaland Province following Cyclone Idai,
12. Zimbabwe National Water Authority (ZINWA)’s Kunzvi Dam and 47.2km pipeline to new Donnybrook Water Treatment Plant (WTP),
13. Forensic Environmental Audit of Construction of MR13 Sicunusa – Nhlangano and Mphandze – Mbhadlane Roads in Eswatini,
14. Development of SAPP Poly-Chlorinated Biphenyls (PCB) Standard Operating Procedure and capacity building of member power utilities,
15. Premium Leaf Tobacco’s 7.4MW roof-top solar plant (the biggest roof-top Solar PV plantin SADC)
16. Development of a Stakeholder’s Management Framework (SMF) for Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) a project that involved twelve SADC countries.
In July 2020, the company scored another milestone as President Mnangagwa opened nine projects in Hwange District, including four managed by Sustiglobal. The four were;
• South Mining New Coking Plant expansion (USD27 Million worth of investment),
• Zimbabwe Zhongxin Electrical Energy 50MW Thermal Power Plant (USD50 Million worth of investment),
• Dinson Colliery (Afrochine) Coking Plant (USD30 Million Investment),
• Zimbabwe Zhongxin Coking Company’s Coking battery (USD20 Million Investment),
Working with Communities
Local communities are key in the undertaking of ESIAs, as they are the ones impacted by projects, some of whom leave negative footprint scarring the environment forever.
SustiGlobal consulting teams are in communities courtersy of projects that they will be working on, they use the opportunity to fully disclose to the same stakeholders about the project in question and use the same project to train the same communities and stakeholders about their environmental rights as premised in Section 73 of the Constitution of Zimbabwe (2013), which deals with Environmental Rights which are; Right to a Safe and Healthy Environment, Duty to Protect the Environment and State’s Responsibility to make laws. These trainings empower communities to hold their developers (investors) and government agencies to account and any behaviour that may affect the same communities.
Over the decade, in the 155 projects that SustiGlobal has done, about 155 communities that translate to 4,650 people have been trained in their communities on impacts of development on environment. The same training would equip the communities to be knowledgeable about what they should demand from future investors who may come to them.
Concurrently, SustiGlobal has undertaken Social Upliftment Programmes in communities through donation of soccer and netball balls and distribution of sanitary pads in underprivileged rural communities sorely and in partnership with other organizations. The company also pay fees for orphans and the vulnerable children in the communities, reflecting the deep philanthropic values of the founder, who is a devout Christian and community builder and change maker.
Capacity
SustiGlobal partly owns Susti Global Africa (in South Africa) as a subsidiary, in charge of projects in South Africa. To broaden its capacity, the company has partnered consulting firms in Canada, Ethiopia, Egypt, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa in a number of projects and that is expected to continue into Europe as the company is ushered into the second decade.
As part of diversification strategy since 2022, the company has entered into civil and structural engineering space in its desire to contribute to the “brick-by-brick“ building of this country and the global south region. This strategic direction is driven by a desire to addgoods to the services that the firm has already been offering to the market, the firm says.
Mutasa looks back at the past decade, noting that the company has played its part in contributing positively to Zimbabwe.
“We are deeply honored to have reached this important milestone as we continue contributing to national development in our professional capacity,” he said.
” The journey has certainly not been easy, particularly given the challenging economic environment our nation has faced”.
“However, through resilience and invaluable support from the government, we have persevered and achieved significant progress. As we enter our second decade in this business, we look forward to continued collaboration and support from stakeholders both locally and internationally.”
https://www.newzimbabwe.com/sustiglobal-celebrates-us6-billion-projects-in-decade