Harare – Global hospitality group Hilton is set to make its debut in Zimbabwe with a 140-room Hilton Garden Inn in Harare, in a deal involving South African property developer Brett Abrahamse and his company, Terrace Africa.
The hotel, expected to open in early 2029, will form part of Terrace Africa’s Highlands Precinct, a mixed-use development combining offices, retail, restaurants, residences, hotels and conferencing facilities.
According to Billionaires.Africa, the agreement was announced at the ZimReal property investment forum on 26 August and marks the first Hilton-branded property in Zimbabwe.
The publication reported that the hotel will be located in Harare’s established Highlands residential and diplomatic district, about 20 to 25km from Robert Gabriel Mugabe International Airport.
The development will feature an all-day restaurant with a terrace, lobby café and bar, gym, swimming pool and meeting rooms.
International arrivals
Hilton’s chief development officer for the Middle East and Africa, Carlos Khneisser, said Zimbabwe’s growing tourism market presented an opportunity for the group.
“With Zimbabwe welcoming more than 1.7 million international arrivals in 2025 and Harare serving as a key commercial, diplomatic and regional gateway, we see strong opportunity to bring Hilton Garden Inn to a market where demand from business and leisure travellers continues to grow,” Khneisser said, according to Tourism News Africa.
Abrahamse, who founded Terrace Africa in 2011, described the Hilton partnership as a major milestone for the development.
“Our Highlands Precinct has been designed as a connected urban destination that reflects Harare’s growth and evolving lifestyle needs,” he said. “Partnering with Hilton to introduce its first hotel in Zimbabwe is a defining milestone for the precinct.”
International hospitality
Travel Trends Today also reported that the 140-room hotel would introduce Hilton’s upscale focused-service Hilton Garden Inn brand to Zimbabwe. Hilton currently operates more than 70 hotels across Africa and has more than 100 additional properties in its pipeline, with more than half located in sub-Saharan Africa.
For Abrahamse, the deal builds on a growing property portfolio in Zimbabwe. Billionaires.Africa said that Terrace Africa has delivered more than $230 million in projects across Zimbabwe, Zambia, Mozambique and South Africa and developed Village Walk in Harare. The company also co-founded the Tigere Property Fund, which became Zimbabwe’s first exchange-traded real estate investment trust in 2022.
Abrahamse previously said of his experience in Zimbabwe: “If I am to judge the performance in terms of yield, it has outperformed other assets within the region. We’re getting amazing returns there.”
The Hilton agreement further strengthens Harare’s position as a destination for international hospitality and property investment, while adding a major global hotel brand to Zimbabwe’s accommodation market.
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Compiled by Betha Madhomu
