Agro-Industrial Park for Mash West

A technical team from Government and the Common Market for East and Southern Africa (Comesa) is in Mashonaland West Province to assess potential sites for a Common Agro-Industrial Park (CAIP). 

The team met Mashonaland West Provincial Affairs and Devolution Minister Marian Chombo this morning before commencing a week-long assessment.  The team will assess sites in Banket, Lions Den, Magunje and Makuti.

This is part of a feasibility study that is expected to be a game-changer in the value addition of crops coming from Zimbabwe and Zambia. A site has already been identified in Zambia.

A similar arrangement is at an advanced stage in West Africa where a cocoa processing plant is being set up in Ghana. The establishment of the parks fit into the broader African Union Agenda for the setting up of regional industrial hubs.

Comesa senior private sector development officer, Mrs Esther Mwimba said the project seeks to fulfil the joint industrialisation aspirations of Zimbabwe and Zambia. “The two member states have decided to cooperate and they signed a Memorandum of Understanding in 2021,” said Mrs Mwimba.

Minister Chombo said the development will ensure the province’s socio-economic transformation.