Victoria Foods benefits from industrial development agenda

GWERU-based Victoria Foods Milling plant is operating at 80 percent capacity utilisation riding on the Second Republic’s ease-of-doing-business and industrial development agenda.

The Government is implementing ease-of-doing-business reforms, which seek to improve the business operating environment.

This has seen it crafting and rolling out a programme to reform and grow the economy as it seeks to achieve an upper-middle-income economy by 2030.

Increased Government support and private-sector partnerships has stimulated renewed industrial investments mainly in the manufacturing sector where more focus is on value-addition and beneficiation.

There have been huge strides registered by the resuscitated businesses, which include key companies from Bulawayo, the Midlands, Harare and other parts of the country.

Victoria Foods Milling company which was placed under judicial management in 2016 and resumed normal operations in 2021, is taking advantage of the Second Republic’s re-tooling and re-industrialisation thrust.

The firm has since increased its capacity utilisation to 80 percent and in terms of volumes.

Victoria Foods acting General Manager, Ms Rutendo Chidemo said the company is in the process of recapitalisation, a development likely to spur its growth.

“We are growing and our capacity utilisation at the moment is at 80 percent hence the push for recapitalisation, “she said.

Ms Chidemo said the company now has the capacity to meet demand for mealie-meal from the southern region as it was getting maize from contracted farmers and Grain Marketing Board (GMB).

Midlands Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Owen Ncube who recently toured the firm said the Government will continue supporting entities that promote the country’s food value chain in line with the National Development Strategy (NDS1).

“The Midlands Province appreciates your company’s contribution to value addition and beneficiation,” said Minister Ncube.

The Government, he said, will continue to provide an enabling business operating environment to both local and foreign investors.

Government recently operationalised the US$22,5 million retooling facility meant to assist companies to buy new equipment and machinery.

The funding is part of the US$80 million set aside from the over US$900 million Special Drawing Rights Zimbabwe received from the International Monetary Fund in 2021.-chronicle