The Sunday News
Rutendo Nyeve and Judith Phiri, Business Reporters
BULAWAYO industries have impressed Government by their resuscitation efforts, positive attitude and enthusiasm towards expansion and capacity growth.
These have been described as indicators that the City of Bulawayo is bracing towards reclaiming its former glory of being the industrial hub of the country.
The revelations were made by a high-level delegation from the Ministry of Industry and Commerce led by its Deputy Minister Raj Modi and Permanent Secretary Dr Mavis Sibanda after a one-week tour of Bulawayo’s companies.
Among some of the companies visited by the Ministry officials include Mealie Brand (Zimplow), Machtec Engineering, National Blankets, Ticoz Enterprises, Plus Five, Sondelani Ranching, Ingwebu Breweries and PPC Zimbabwe.
Deputy Minister Modi expressed gratitude towards the positive attitude exhibited by the companies, which he described as the right path towards resuscitating Bulawayo’s industrial hub status.
“It is very good that we visited the companies, to hear and understand the challenges they have. As Government, we want to understand the challenges they are having in running their businesses. One thing that we realised is that every company that we visited is on an expansion drive.
They all want to increase their capacity and production. Some are bringing in new machinery to do some other things. So, they have confidence in the Government and that is very good,” he said.
He said as Bulawayo was once an industrial hub, resuscitation was the right direction to be taken. Deputy Minister Modi commended the return of some of the products such as Shake-Shake (traditional beer) brewed by Ingwebu Breweries which had been out of the market for more than eight years.
“They are re-introducing on the market. So, this shows that people are optimistic and they want to invest in their businesses creating more employment for Bulawayo.”
Permanent Secretary Dr Sibanda echoed the same sentiments while committing Government support towards addressing some of the challenges they gathered during the tour.
“We came here to support the industry and listen to the issues which might be challenging them. All the companies that we visited, we noticed one thing which is the positive attitude and companies are actually investing.
This means Bulawayo is coming back to be an industrial hub. The companies have challenges which are really common and we have discussed them. As we go back to Harare, we will sit down and come up with solutions, we are not promising them to be 100 percent sorted, but we will do our level best to help them,” she said.
She said the industry in Bulawayo was very keen to grow and there was lot of positive energy towards resuscitating the industry.
Machtec Engineering managing director Mr Christopher Muchenu said they were appreciative of Government support measures and were working towards establishing their own foundry.
“We have already bought machines from China. We have invested nearly US$250 000 in machinery for the foundry and all the supporting machinery to enable us to set it up,” said Mr Muchenu.
Ingwebu Breweries managing director Mr Dumisani Mhlanga said even though they experienced Covid-19 pandemic shocks, they were operating at capacity utilisation of above 50 percent.
“At the moment if you talk of utilisation, we are just over 52 percent and that has been a result of most outlets being closed. Right now, we employ about 500 people.
Our volumes in 2021 took a biting due to Covid-19 as bars were not selling alcohol while operating hours were reduced. So, we sold just over 40 million litres, but if you look at 2019, we sold about 51 million litres and that is a huge drop in terms of volumes,” he said.
Mr Mhlanga said they were profitable enough to pay their suppliers and employees and they were working towards expanding and bringing out more products.
PPC Zimbabwe managing director Mr Kelibone Masiyane commended the cordial relations between Government and the private sector. He acknowledged the support that they enjoy from Government which has kept them in operation.
