From Steel to Snacks: Here are top destinations for SADC Industrialisation Week factory tours

Visitors and delegates to the upcoming SADC Industrialisation Week will have an opportunity to tour some of the country’s flagship companies, a senior government official has said.

Zimbabwe is set to host the 7th SADC Industrialisation Week which comes a few weeks before the 44th SADC Summit, which the country will also host.

The SADC Industrialisation Week (SIW2024), which is being hosted by the Government through the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), in partnership with SADC Secretariat and SADC Business Council, will run from July 28 to August 2.

It will be held under the theme: “Promoting Innovation to Unlock Opportunities for Sustainable Economic Growth and Development Towards an Industrialised SADC.”

The week-long conference was recently described by Industry and Commerce Minister Mangaliso Ndlovu as a platform for private sector and policymakers to attend and interact.

Speaking at the Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) annual congress in Victoria Falls last week, Minister Ndlovu said the SIW2024 is a platform “to guage our progress towards our SADC Industrialisation targets, which were set in 2015.”

As part of the SIW2024, and on the sixth day, the hosts will take visitors for factory tours, according to Permanent Secretary for Industry and Commerce, Dr Thomas Utete Wushe at a first update meeting to SADC Ambassadors based in Zimbabwe.

“Day six, which is Friday the 2nd of August, has been set aside for factory visits.

“We will take all the delegations to predetermined factories, predetermined industries.

“We already know that one of them is Manhize (Dinson), our flagship steel manufacturing plant which is about 160km from Harare. So that visit is being organised and I encourage member states to come through to that,” said Dr Wushe.

Dinson, one of the three local subsidiaries of China’s Tshingshan Holdings Limited has invested US$1.5 billion in an Integrated Iron and Steel Plant in Manhize near Mvuma. The company expects to produce 600 000 MT of steel per annum in the first phase which would rise to 1.2 million MT in the second phase, 3.2 million MT in the third phase and 5 million MT in the final phase, employing more than 1 000 people.

Apart from Dinson, delegates will also have an opportunity to visit some of Zimbabwe’s top firms including Khayah Cement Limited, National Foods (Pvt) Ltd, Delta Beverages, Seedco and Dairibord Holdings Limited.

Others include Kefalos Cheese Products (Pvt) Limited, a manufacturer of dairy products such as cheese, ice cream, ice mix, and yogurt for sale in the local and regional markets (Botswana, Malawi, Mozambique, and Zambia).

According to information obtained by this publication, Kefalos invested up to US$11 million for factory expansion, where the company introduced new products in 2021 and increased product availability in the local and foreign markets. Fresh milk is sourced 100 percent from local dairy farmers. The company currently employs 183 people.

Also to be visited is Davipel Holdings (Pvt) Ltd (Harare) an indigenous manufacturing company which was established in 2001.

The company has 5 divisions namely; Davipel Snacks Division; Agri Milling Division; Flavour Room Division; Davipel Freight Services; and Davipel Commodity Broking.

Davipel Holdings has a new stock feed plant worth USUS$4 million and has a capacity to produce 10 MT per hour with the latest technology. The plant has 2 silos which has a capacity of storing 4 000 MT each. The company currently employs 450 people,” according to the SIW2024 organisers.

Also on the list is Trade Kings Zimbabwe, which was established in 2014 as a manufacturing company for laundry detergents and homecare products and is part of Trade Kings, Zambia.

The company’s average market share across its various product lines is currently approximately 26 percent.

The company had an initial investment plan US$50 million disaggregated as follows; US$20 million for the washing detergent plant; US$20 million for the beverage plant and US$10 million for the chips and snacks plant.

To date, the company has completed its washing detergent plant, and plans to expand production to start producing household detergents at an estimated to cost US$2 million.

Currently, the company employs 600 people and is operating at 30 percent utilization.

Another company to be visited is Champion Foods (Pvt) Ltd (Harare), an indigenous Zimbabwean owned milling company that was established in 2023.

Champion Foods has made significant investments in its facilities, with more than US$10 million allocated to the establishment of various plants and silos.

Currently, the company employs a total of 120 individuals, of which 50 are working on contractual agreements.-ebusinessweekly