‘Byo reclaims manufacturing hub status’
TENDAI BHEBE IN BULAWAYO
Bulawayo is gradually reclaiming its status as the country’s manufacturing hub with several industries exhibiting resilience amid improved output and focus on exports, a top government official has said.
Speaking after touring Zambezi Tanners and the Zimbabwe Grain Bags Production projects which are being implemented by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce under the 100-Day Cycle Programme, minister of State for Presidential Affairs responsible for Monitoring and Implementation of government programme Joram Gumbo said the development initiatives at the two companies were a clear testimony that the city was fast regaining its industrial hub status.
The 100-Day Target Based Programme was a deliberate attempt by the government to address anomalies associated with project implementation.
In two days, Gumbo toured Zambezi Tanners, Zimbabwe Grain Bag and National Blankets Limited.
Gumbo said their expectation was that the programme would lead to the realisation of developmental goals as set out in the National Development Strategy 1 blueprint and subsequently the attainment of Vision 2030 through close monitoring and evaluation of projects by government.
He said industries found it difficult to retool as they could not access cheap financing due to the “illegal sanctions”.
“…As a result, most industries were forced to close and the City of Bulawayo lost its status as the country’s industrial hub and the moniker Kontuthu Ziyathunqa also lost its relevance,” Gumbo said.
He said Zambezi Tanners’ level of capacity utilisation had increased to over 150 tonnes per month from an average monthly output of 90 tonnes.
Gumbo said the Zimbabwe Grain Bag had diversified and extended its range of products to provide standard packing for seed maize, fertiliser, sugar, mealie-meal and mineral ores bulk packaging, with indications that the company could produce up to four million bags per month when operating at full capacity.
Zambezi Tanners general manager Arnold Britten said the company was set to commission a new plant early next year to increase their capacity utilisation.
“We have invested 540 000 euros which is about US$650 000 in the machines. After commissioning the plant our capacity utilisation will increase to about 100 percent, at the moment our capacity was very low.
Zambezi Tanners got a loan from BancABC which has been very supportive to their expansion programme, he said.
“Also with the response from the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe they allowed us to purchase our currency from the auction system and from the money we got there we were able to buy the machinery,” Britten said.
“The government has really been supportive as well as the Industry and Commerce ministry that made a special application on our behalf to exempt us from duties and VAT on the machines. So, this again has also been a great help to us because the cost of duty and VAT on the machines would have been a lot for our business,” he said.
Britten said the revenue collection authority, Zimbabwe Revenue Authority owed them money which was a setback to their business.
Established Bulawayo industries such as PPC Zimbabwe, United Refineries Limited, Treger Products Group, Arenel Private Limited, Datlabs and Archer Clothing have recently exhibited strong rebound and have been widening domestic and export footprint.
The city has also registered a growing small to medium enterprise sector that is anchored in the manufacturing, retail and service industry with a higher scope on food processing, leather and clothing value chains, mining supplies and engineering.