The 2025 ZimReal Property Investment Forum was a veritable confluence of visionaries, investors, and developers, but amid the throng of over 600 attendees from Zimbabwe and South Africa, one enterprise captured both attention and imagination: Obsidian Investments, alongside its Zimbabwean counterpart, Mukamba Gateway.
At the helm is Brian Sango, CEO of Obsidian Investments, along with other partners, whose firm has carved out a unique niche, serving as a strategic bridge between the Zimbabwean diaspora and the booming South African property market.
“We find ourselves in a very strategic position where we bridge both markets,” Brian explains. “One company channels Zimbabwean interest into South Africa, overseeing asset management there, while on the other end, we bring South African interest into Zimbabwe.”
The Forum offered a rare window into the dynamism shaping Zimbabwe’s property landscape. Brian highlighted Westprop’s ongoing success in Harare and the firm’s growing footprint in the Matabeleland and Bulawayo regions. This on-the-ground momentum is buoyed by a robust appetite for property investment, particularly from the global diaspora, which views real estate as a stable hedge against economic uncertainty.
He also emphasized the crucial role of strategic partnerships, noting that Mukamba Gateway serves as the exclusive conduit for retail brands expanding into Zimbabwe, including South African food franchises such as La Paradas.
“So, because it’s a big element, we bring a lot of the retail food brands that are opening up in Zimbabwe, and we have contractual relationships with food retail brands in South Africa that we’re aiming to bring into Zim,” explained Brian.
“We’ve seen already, we’ve got a few new players in the field, and Obsidian and Mukamba are also trying to be at the forefront of opening up doors for more retail brands to come in. For a lot of investors, mostly residential and some retail brands, I’ve got a couple of food brands in Harare that I’m taking to South Africa, which is great.”
Brian emphasized that while South Africa is the primary focus for residential and retail expansion, Zimbabwe attracts mostly corporate client interest.
“So on the avenue of inward investment drive, we are driving engagements and consulting a lot of these food retail brands, and other businesses as well. But food being our particular key focus at the moment… Why? Because I personally started my first job in South Africa, it was in the restaurant space. So that’s why restaurants, that’s why my particular focus is on having more restaurants from South Africa opening up shop in Zimbabwe.”
Yet Obsidian Investments is not content merely to facilitate cross-border interest. The company is also set to redefine the property transaction experience with its upcoming fintech innovation, Mukamba Gateway, which Brian, who is also the Chief Growth Officer describes as “a robust new platform that will revolutionize how the normal real estate transaction in Zimbabwe is done from start to finish.”
Slated for official launch at the end of September, the platform promises a seamless, end-to-end property investment experience for both developers and diaspora investors, offering tools to buy, sell and manage properties across Zimbabwe and South Africa. The platform’s dual functionality, servicing both Zimbabwe and South Africa, speaks to a pan-African vision targeting the African diaspora, that’s all over the world.
Mukamba Gateway epitomizes this vision, providing tailored services for the diaspora, from legal registration of holding companies and trusts to the management of portfolios exceeding ten properties.
“We act as your trusted personal property concierge in the stable and growing South African property market,” Brian notes.
The platform also ensures investors can navigate property purchases, virtual or in-person viewings, administrative requirements and management guidance with ease and confidence.
This dual-market strategy is a clear response to a market gap in proptech and fintech solutions and positions Obsidian and Mukamba at the vanguard of African real estate innovation. Investors gain access to high-quality, diversified portfolios, while developers benefit from global reach and streamlined engagement with diaspora capital.
The Forum itself underscored a broader theme: Zimbabwe is increasingly open for business.
“There’s a lot of new developments going around,” Brian observes. “The market is certainly moving, there’s great activity, which is what we’re leveraging off.”
The platform’s localized presence, coupled with his regular travel between Zimbabwe, South Africa, Botswana and Zambia, ensures that opportunity is never out of reach for those ready to invest in Southern Africa’s emerging property frontier.
In a region often seen as underexplored by global investors, Obsidian Investments and Mukamba Gateway are not just responding to demand they are reshaping the real estate landscape, creating bridges where none existed and making strategic, profitable and seamless investment a tangible reality for the African diaspora.
As the Forum concluded, it was clear: this is not just two companies to watch, they are companies poised to lead a new era of cross-border property investment in Southern Africa.
