SI64 paying dividends

50pc capacity utilisation registered More foreign firms set up shop in Zim

LOCAL companies have increased capacity utilisation by 50 percent while foreign companies are setting up plants in the country following the implementation of Statutory Instrument (SI) 64 of 2016.

SI 64 controls importation of selected basic commodities.

Speaking on the sidelines of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA) conference in Victoria Falls, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa said SI 64 will help revive companies that were affected by importation of goods.

Following the gazetting of the statutory instrument, Government set an inter-ministerial committee to assess industry’s efficiencies.

The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries has also been assessing company performances.

“We are happy to note that there are some industries that are now reaching 100 percent capacity utilisation, with cooking oil industry pushing to between 90 and 100 percent from around 50 percent few months ago,” said the deputy minister.

“Yeast industry was almost closed but it’s now at 83 percent capacity utilisation while the biscuits manufacturing industry has gone up from 35 percent to around 75 percent because of SI64.

“Some big companies were about to fold because we were importing products that they were producing. We corrected that and gave them an opportunity to produce those goods,” she said.

The deputy minister dismissed suggestions that SI64 pushed the prices of basic goods upwards.

“Due to economies of scale, two-litres of cooking oil is now going for around US$2,90, down from US$4,30 in 2009. The more we produce, the less the prices for our basic commodities will be,” she said. Deputy minister Mabuwa said Willowton, a foreign company, is setting up a US$40 million plant in Mutare while Boom is planning to set up a US$50 million plant in Harare.

Companies in the rubber industry are also set to invest over US$50 million in the country.

The new plants will create thousands of jobs and help boost the economy.

Deputy minister Mabuwa said: “We are part and parcel of all these trading blocs (SADC, COMESA and Tripartite Free Trade Area) but what will we be trading or promoting when we have nothing to show from our industries?

“All these groups know that trading fairly among members states is essential but we can’t be a dumping site of cheap quality goods.

“We can’t just be a supermarket nation, which is why we came up with the import management programme in the name of SI64.”