The Sunday News
Roberta Katunga Senior Business Reporter
BULAWAYO is slowly shaking off the de-industrialisation tag as foreign investors have started trickling into the city, raising hope that the city will soon crawl out of its slumber and become the pride of Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector. After the disclosure of more than $860 000 worth of new investments approved by the Zimbabwe Investment Authority in February only, Sunday Business tracked the investors who said the city had potential to become a huge industrial area.
They said if Government declares the city a special economic zone, more investors were likely to flock into the city and chances were high that they would thrive.
Some of the new investors in Kelvin West industrial area said contrary to the belief Bulawayo was not dead and manufacturing was taking a turn for the better. Although certain companies had closed shop in the city and set up offices in Harare, operations were still done in Bulawayo where proper structures were erected.
A representative of Primetone Enterprises from Pakistan, Mr Sawab Khan, said Bulawayo was an attractive investment destination as it was near the ports, easier to access certain raw materials as well as having a lot of space to set up manufacturing plants.
“Bulawayo is the best place to do our foundry business as scrap metal is cheap and easy to get. There is plenty of space here and we are looking forward to telling fellow Pakistanis to join us and do business in Bulawayo,” said Mr Khan.
Primetone Enterprises which specialises in recycling scrap metal to make steel rods is still under construction with the investors having spent about $4 million in equipment and construction of administration offices. It will create employment for 240 people operating on a three-shift basis, excluding skilled manpower.
A local partner for the company Mr Paxton Nyoni said the manufacturing plant was almost complete.
“The water cooling pumps, transformers, feeder pumps, furnaces and purification plant are already in place. We are supposed to have started operating in February but we are waiting for engineers from India to commission the plant,” said Mr Nyoni.
Describing the process that the plant will engage in, Mr Khan with the assistance of Mr Nyoni, said all scrap metal would be processed and put in billets then put into the rolling plant where they would be melted and moulded into steel rods.
They said the plant would use about 80 tonnes of scrap metal per day which they acquire from mines.
“For water, we have already sunk two boreholes and we are confident that our products will compete well on the market. When the situation was bad in 2007-8, people were desperate for cheap products but now everyone wants value for their money,” said Mr Nyoni.
Mr Nyoni said what was affecting most companies in Bulawayo was the lack of proper management and urged businesspeople to run their companies professionally and help revive Bulawayo.
Meanwhile, China remains the biggest source market with the largest share of foreign investors in the country according to ZIA.
Panellink Manufacturing representative Mr Guo-Yong Wei said as foreigners they had hope and declared that Bulawayo was alive hence their stay in the city.
“We have heard talk of declaring the city a SEZ and to our knowledge this will help businesspeople as well
