President pledges legislative support for investors
PRESIDENT Emmerson Mnangagwa yesterday pledged legislative support for a conducive investment environment and told manufacturers to take advantage of the new political dispensation to invest in the latest technology to keep abreast with international best practices.
The President was speaking at the commissioning of a filling line on the Cremora plant at Nestle Zimbabwe’s Southerton factory in Harare. The investment in the plant came after President Mnangagwa secured commitment from Nestle’s executives during his historic trip to Davos, Switzerland, for the World Economic Forum in January.
President Mnangagwa said Government remained committed to facilitating the establishment of a vibrant, competitive and efficient manufacturing value chain, as the country sought to exploit the socio-economic benefits of the manufacturing sector.
“I challenge other stakeholders in the manufacturing sector to take incremental steps towards modernising their production plants in line with global technological trends to improve efficiencies and product competitiveness,” he said.
“My government will continue to ensure balanced policies, legislation and policy interventions to enable a conducive and enabling business environment which allows for investments and stimulates growth.”
The Nestle investment comes at a time Zimbabwe has a vision to become a prosperous growing middle income country by 2030, characterised by increased investment, decent jobs, and free from poverty and corruption.
With the right mindset, policies, infrastructure and continuous dialogue, the manufacturing sector will soon regain its lustre, President Mnangagwa said.
Capacity utilisation in Zimbabwe’s manufacturing sector fell to 45,1 percent last year, from 47,4 percent in 2016, according to industry lobby group Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries.
This was largely a result of high production costs, lack of capital to retool and lack of foreign currency.
Nestle Zimbabwe managing director Ben Ndiaye said the Cremora plant would save Zimbabwe at least $2 million in foreign currency annually through import substitution.
He said the investment was in line with the Buy Zimbabwe initiative. Mr Ndiaye said Nestle invested $500 000 to upgrade the plant. Nestle’s investment is in line with Government’s policy thrust which recognises the pivotal role of FDI towards economic revival. Nestle invested more than $30 million in the past few years. Nestle Zimbabwe modernised and refurbished the production plant with the latest technology and state-of-theart equipment in a move expected to result in synchronised filling and packaging of milk powder and Cremora to match the throughput from the bulk production area.
The technology is expected to increase the company’s production capacity significantly as it eyes exports into Zambia, Malawi and South Africa and create 10 new jobs.