VICTORIA FALLS SET TO HOST GLOBAL SUMMIT AS MICE SECTOR GAINS MOMENTUM

Victoria Falls will take centre stage on Africa’s investment calendar this September, as the resort town prepares to host the Zimbabwe TNF Global Summit — a five-day gathering billed as the continent’s first tripartite-led global convening platform, bringing ministers, investors and innovators together to turn opportunity into binding commitments.

The summit, running from 21 to 25 September 2026 at Elephant Hills Resort, is being positioned as a marquee event for Zimbabwe’s growing meetings, incentives, conferences and exhibitions (MICE) industry, an area authorities and tourism bodies have identified as a high-value complement to the country’s traditional leisure and wildlife tourism offering.

Unlike conventional tourist arrivals, MICE visitors typically spend more per trip, stay longer, and bring business and investment interest that extends well beyond the event itself — making Victoria Falls’ ability to land a summit of this scale a significant marker of the destination’s evolving infrastructure and credibility as a conferencing hub.

Organised under the banner “Inclusive Growth, Decent Work, Beneficiation and Investment Promotion,” the summit will unpack nine spotlight themes across its programme, ranging from Africa’s US$3.4 trillion investment frontier and green growth to artificial intelligence, youth entrepreneurship, digital finance and industrialisation. A notable inaugural feature will spotlight Zimbabwe’s indigenous business champions, reflecting growing emphasis on domestic wealth creation alongside foreign investment promotion.

Organisers describe the event as designed to convert dialogue into bankable outcomes, gathering policymakers, private capital and entrepreneurs under one roof at a venue already accustomed to hosting high-profile regional gatherings thanks to its proximity to one of the Seven Natural Wonders of the World. That backdrop has become part of the pitch: delegates attending sessions on trade and finance can step outside into views of the Zambezi gorge and the falls themselves, an offering tourism boosters argue gives Zimbabwe an edge over more conventional conference destinations.

The event is being convened with support from a tripartite negotiating structure and promoted through Zimbabwe’s marketing and business associations, signalling coordinated efforts across government, private sector and civil society to market the country as an investment and conferencing destination.

If it delivers on its billing, the summit could serve as a template for future large-scale MICE events in Zimbabwe, reinforcing Victoria Falls’ reputation not only as a natural attraction but as a serious venue for shaping Africa’s economic conversations.