$10 million cement plant for Redcliff

Lovemore Zigara Midlands Correspondent
A CONSORTIUM of local businessmen in collaboration with a Chinese-based firm has acquired land from Redcliff Municipality in a $600,000 deal for the setting up of a cement manufacturing plant. The company, Mortal Investments, will in the next two years set up a cement plant, which once operational will employ about 400 workers and stimulate economic growth in a town that has suffered massive deindustrialisation since the closure of Ziscosteel (now New Zimsteel) in 2008.

Redcliff mayor, Councillor Freddy Kapuya said the availability of slag at New Zimsteel, which is a by-product of coal — a major component of blended Portland cement —had attracted the investor.

“As you know we’re very close to the raw materials of cement manufacturing companies and Sino Zimbabwe Cement Company is supplied from New Zimsteel to their site after Gweru. That only is an attraction to a cement investor who wants to set up a plant,” he said.

“The investor approached us and we’ve been negotiating since December last year. As part of the deal we gave them rebates where they’ll go for three years without paying rates and will only pay for service charges, that is, water and sewer reticulation charges.

“We had a special full council meeting on Monday to ratify that and as we speak they have paid $600,000 for a 100,000 square metres of land and the money is in our account.”

Clr Kapuya said the deal had already been cleared by the Zimbabwe Investment Authority and what was left for the investor was to come on the ground and begin setting up machinery.

The latest investment follows propositions by a Japanese investor, Yakushuku Manufacturing Company, which intends to set up a $ 25 million cotton ginning factory and yarn cotton manufacturing plant in the satellite town of Kwekwe following successful negotiations with the local authority.

As part of its plans the Japanese company intends to use solar powered technology for its operations with the excess power generated being fed into the national grid.