SIMOSON BUILDING
Simon Building in Lusaka CBD is one of the earliest shopping complexes built in Lusaka. It started operating in 1987 and was built and owned by Dr. Simon Cushi Mwewa, a highly prominent figure on the Zambian landscape. He was a former governer of the city of Lusaka in the Kaunda era.
He also played a major role in the construction of Society House along Cairo which has now been refurbished and houses the Hilton Garden Inn Hotel.
Simoson building was a starting point for many small scale Zambian businesses who could now run shops in the centre of town. It housed many businesses like stationary, spares, electric shops, boutiques, restaraunts, cinema and a bar on the upper floor which was a first for many as they could cool off from the roof top with an amazing view of the outside surroundings.
One of the notable stationary shops that started from Simoson building was Ligoms Stationery which pioneered the business of printer cartridge refills in Lusaka. Inside the building there wasalso a cinema which however was very controversial because it showed movies while totally disregarding PG status of it’s clients.
Simoson building is still going strong under the control of the son to late Dr. Mwewa, Simon Mwewa Jr. He is also a prime figure on Zambian landscape especially on social network platforms like Facebook
Picture: An early picture of Simoson building,circa early 1990s.
CREDIT: Zambian History in pictures