Brick-making firm opens, 200 jobs on offer

Prosper Ndlovu Business Editor
Work on establishing a $2 million brick-making company, Marvel Clay Bricks Limited, in Bulawayo set to create at least 200 jobs has started. Coming at a time when Bulawayo has suffered de-industrialisation that has left thousands of workers jobless, the enterprise is expected to boost the city’s economy and enhance business confidence.

Business Chronicle met the founder of the new company, Philani Mpofu, at the company premises on the outskirts of Bulawayo along Harare road where part of the production equipment has been installed.

The 40-year-old University of Zimbabwe civil engineering graduate said the new company would produce first class bricks for modern infrastructure.

“We’ve successfully completed installing equipment for our clay brick factory and we’re now doing trial runs,” said the soft spoken Mpofu.

“We’ve invested close to $2 million in the venture including the land. Our target is to produce 30 million bricks per year. At peak we target to create 200 jobs.”

There is a big opportunity in the construction industry especially in the building material supply side, he said, adding that it was disappointing that buyers were now importing bricks from Botswana and South Africa because there was a gap in the production of the desired quality of bricks locally.

“We saw a gap in the sector which we feel should’ve many players as opposed to just one company dominating. We’re coming in to step up production and we want to set a bigger plant because there’s a huge demand.

“We’ve bought additional equipment from China called the robot stacking system to improve the quality of our production and it’s on transit,” said Mpofu.

He said his company was committed to producing quality bricks that can compete with products from counterparts in the region.

Mpofu said consumers were always demanding better quality hence the need for companies to respond to these new demands.

“It’ll therefore be useless for us to venture into this business and produce the same old product that our competitors make. There’s no need for importing bricks when we can make the quality the market needs,” he said.

Mpofu said they expected additional machinery to arrive in the country by March next year, adding that the company expects to be operating at full throttle by next June.

Some of the equipment that has been installed on site includes jaw and roller crushers, clay brick extruder machine, a hammer mill, a mixer and a 100x20m modular structure.

Mpofu said two more warehouse structures would be set up for storage.

He said the new plant has a capacity to produce 18 bricks per second with an average output of 200,000 bricks per pay.

Mpofu said the new firm would make different grades of bricks ranging from industrial, common and face bricks.

The new company is a subsidiary of Stelix Civils Investments, an engineering firm established in 2008.