CONTANGO Holdings… Bulawayo manufacturing sector eyes growth opportunities

THE manufacturing sector in Bulawayo, currently undergoing significant retooling, is optimistic about the prospects of the Sadc Industrialisation Week.

Several executives noted that the city presents a compelling investment destination for investors and the industrialisation event is a prime opportunity to establish partnerships and access regional markets.

Over the years, pharmaceutical, printing, agro-processing, and cement companies, among others, have invested heavily in recapitalisation projects.

Scheduled to run from July 28 to August 2 under the theme “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialisation”, the Sadc Industrial Week will consist of conferences and exhibitions.

Numerous private sector entities are expected to participate in the programme. It serves as an annual public-private platform aimed at cultivating new opportunities for intra-African trade, establishing cross-border value chains, and pinpointing investment prospects within the Sadc region.

Production process at Zim Pharmaceuticals

The Government expects about 300 guests and 150 companies to participate in the exhibition. It will precede the senior officials’ meetings, Council of Ministers Meetings, and the Sadc Summit of Heads of State and Government from August 9-18 at the New Parliament Building in Mt Hampden.

During a tour of several firms last week as part of the build-up to the 7th Sadc Industrialisation Week, it emerged that investments which run into millions of dollars are starting to pay off, with higher production levels reported, registering positive resuscitation strides of Bulawayo manufacturing sectors and market expansion in the region.

For instance, DP Print Media director, Mr Bradley Beale, said his company, which is renowned for large-scale commercial printing services, has invested more than US$2 million in retooling in the past nine years.

The investment is yielding dividends as it has an extensive footprint in the country and that has capacitated the company to penetrate the regional market.

National Foods has invested US$6,5 million in the automated mill in Bulawayo, which guarantees better consistency in quality. As a result, production capacity has increased from 240 tonnes to 300 tonnes per day.

The old mill, which was second-hand from the United Kingdom in the 1950s, was inconsistent due to frequent breakdowns and capacity utilisation was 70 percent.

Executives said with firms at various stages of industrialisation, the industrial week presents multi-prong opportunities for city firms to upscale their retooling efforts by learning new modern technologies and development that would enable them to efficiently deploy resources in key areas.

Zimbabwe Pharmaceuticals head of operations, Mr Donald Mabhiza, said over the years, US$2 million in shareholder equity has been invested in various facets of the production value chain, including research.

He said they seek to accelerate the retooling process and scale up employment levels from the current 60 workforce.
“Our production capacity hovers around 35 percent and we are most busy during this winter season as we have a strong focus on cough and cold preparation.

We try to introduce medicines that address current disease burdens so that we are lucrative in the export market. We have products registered in Zambia and Malawi and we are looking to boost export levels.”

He said the forthcoming Sadc Industrialisation Week presents opportunities to secure new markets. “We are very much looking forward to the Sadc Industrialisation Week, to engage, market and register our products to prospective partners from the Sadc market,” said Mr Mabhiza.

He said it is critical for a pharmaceutical firm to constantly invest in research activities focusing on the future and addressing changing disease patterns.

“We have an active research team that regularly submits products for registration with the local regulator and export market regulators. Therefore, we have a huge pipeline of products and that is taking us to 2030,” said Mr Mabhiza.
He said the retooling process has a positive impact on Bulawayo.

“Our retooling and recapitalisation efforts will impact positively on industries in Bulawayo and the country. As a manufacturing firm, there are other support services that we access from local businesses. For instance, we have a huge procurement base of printed packaging material and various consumables in Bulawayo. If we were to increase production capacity, there would be a lot of downstream activities.”

Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) Zimbabwe Limited managing director, Mr Albert Sigei, said the Sadc Industrialisation Week is a platform for the country to expose its vast industrial base to the region and also learn from regional counterparts.

“It’s a good opportunity for Zimbabwe to showcase what it has to offer in terms of industrial base and resources, therefore hosting the summit is an excellent opportunity. Zimbabwe has a lot of highly superior products which need to be exploited.

“I say this because we are moving to a scenario where the region is now opening up and becoming more interconnected. There would be a free flow of goods between countries with much ease. This means that skills exchange would be much more prevalent.

It’s also an opportunity for Zimbabwe to look at what other countries are doing to position and prepare to tap into that extended opportunity that the much inter-connected future brings,” said Mr Sigei.

The Sadc Industrialisation Week was conceptualised at the 2015 Sadc Heads of State and Government Summit.
A primary objective of the convention is to advocate for the Sadc Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap (2025-2063) (SISR) to ensure broader comprehension and acceptance among Sadc community stakeholders, encompassing governments, the public, the private sector, academia, research institutions, and think tanks.

Furthermore, it seeks to identify industrialisation ventures that can be collaboratively carried out by the public and private sectors in Sadc member States.

It has been held six times, starting in Eswatini in 2016, followed by South Africa (2017), Namibia (2018), Tanzania (2019), Malawi (2021), and the Democratic Republic of Congo (2022).-chroncile