First Zim luxury cigars

A Zimbabwean entrepreneur in Africa’s top tobacco producer has launched the first brand of hand-rolled cigars, defying the odds to light up manufacturing.

Zimbabwe produced more than 252-million kilograms of tobacco last year.

Upon returning last year to his homeland after 15 years working in the US, Shep Mafundikwa was determined to start a business that would benefit Zimbabwe.

“Though I am not a smoker, I noticed a preponderance of cigar lounges across the US and decided I’d try to corner some of that market,” Mafundikwa, 54, who worked for an American airline., said.

He started with trips to Cuba and the Dominican Republic, both premium cigar producers, where he recruited Dominican cigar-rolling maestro Elias Lopez.

The pair selected air-cured Burley tobacco, a darker variety that accounts for a small percentage of local production.

In May, Mafundikwa launched Mosi Oa Tunya Cigars, the local Lozi name for the Victoria Falls, which translates to “the smoke that thunders”.

“It was like building a house from scratch,” Mafundikwa recalled.

Mosi Oa Tunya eventually opened in May and Lopez has since been teaching seven Zimbabwean women the craft of rolling cigars.

“They are rolling about half of the more than 200 cigars a day they should roll when they have the experience,” Lopez said.

Mafundikwa deliberately recruited an all-woman rolling team to empower women and “provide them with an income.”

“I was unemployed but can now support my family,” roller Gamuchirai Chibaya said.

“We all see a future here.”