Story by Raynald Ngwarati
CORPORATE investment in sport is expected to make Zimbabwe a sporting destination of choice which will open a window of opportunities for local athletes as well as the local tourism industry.
As the call for corporates to come on board and support sport continues, the sporting fraternity has shown potential of attracting international acts if sponsorship is availed.
Judging from the few investments by corporates, sport can assist the tourism sector with the sport of golf leading from the forefront as corporates like First Capital Bank and FBC have been staging tournaments that have caught the international eye.
Speaking after the successful hosting of the recently held Zimbabwe Junior Golf Open, a predecessor of the Zimbabwe Golf Open, First Capital expressed its desires to market destination Zimbabwe through sport.
“When we first thought about investing in this property, we wanted to also showcase our beautiful country Zimbabwe and this is what we’re doing so, we have got nine countries inclusive of France, China, Uganda, Zambia just to name a few. Those people are coming into Zimbabwe and are seeing our beautiful landscape and I think that’s the story and the narrative that we want to push,” said First Capital’s head of marketing, Emily Nemapare.
The Ugandan golf national team head coach, Flavia Namakula who was in the country for the Zimbabwe Junior Golf Open expressed satisfaction with the Zimbabwean landscape platform offered by highend tournaments.
“”I came with two boys playing on the national and I would say it has been a very good experience and exposure. It is a very good tournament, competing with the best juniors in Africa is really good for them.”
For the past three years, the two local financial institutions have been sponsoring the country’s top golfing competitions attracting some of the world’s top golfers and aspiring golfers into the country.
Triathlon and cricket have also unearthed some sponsorship packages that have rocked the world stage with the Bon aqua Triathlon Cup and the Zim Afro T10 tournament attracting renowned names in the respective disciplines, thanks to corporate investment.
