CZI begin state of industry research in Midlands

Lovemore Zigara, Midlands Correspondent
INDUSTRY lobby body, the Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries (CZI), has partnered local academic institutions to do a research on the state of Midlands industries.

The findings of the research and the recommendations, which are being done by Gweru and Kwekwe Polytechnic Colleges, will be presented to the office of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa.

The research has been prompted by company closures in the province which used to boast many heavy industries mainly linked to the mining sector. The capacity utilisation of the few remaining companies has also plummeted.

CZI Midlands interim chamber president Mr Allan Manhanga said: “We have enlisted the services of Gweru Technical College as well as Kwekwe Polytechnic College to assist in the survey on the state of industry in the province. The field work has already started and after that they will compile a report, which will be presented to the (CZI Midlands) chamber.

“We will review the report and then present the report to the office of Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa. At our next meeting, which should be the third week of May we will have an update on the progress they would have made”.

Figures by the Ministry of Industry and Commerce shows that the province faced 13 major company closures since 2009, which saw more than 4 000 workers losing their jobs. Some of the closed companies are Ziscosteel, Zimglass, Mike Appel and Lancashire Steel.

Captains of Industry in the province have blamed the closure of companies to high power tariffs, liquidity challenges and the uncertainty in the local business environment.

There are, however, some positive developments witnessed recently such as the take over of Anchor Yeast by Lesaffre Group, the coming in of Africa Chrome Fields, which has invested in ferrochrome production and Portnex International, which is leasing three furnaces from Zimasco.

Advance Africa is setting up a plastic bottle manufacturing plant in Kwekwe and an industrial park while Lifetouch wants to venture into cement manufacturing in Redcliff.

Big companies in the province such as Bata Shoe Company, Sino Zimbabwe Cement Company, Midlands Metals, Dendairy and Steelmakers have recently raised capacity utilisation to an average of 75 percent.