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The President Cde Emmerson Mnangagwa on Friday opened the $40 million Willowton Group’s refinery plant in Mutare. In his speech, President Mnangagwa commended the company for responding to Government’s call for beneficiation of agricultural produce.
Cde Mnangagwa congratulated the company for its bold decision and perceptive to invest in the country. He said the company’s refinery plant was indeed a demonstration of the company’s confidence in the country’s trade and investment climate.
President Mnangagwa said the entry of Willowton into the local market had brought healthy competion which benefits consumers. “This huge investment is a response to the Government’s call for value addition and beneficiation of our primary produce from the agricultural sector such as soya beans and sunflower among others,” said Cde Mnangagwa.
President Mnangagwa said before opening the Mutare refinery plant, he had commissioned the Nestle Zimbabwe’s state of the art Cremora filling and packaging plant confirming the many investment opportunitites in the country. He said the refinery plant and Nestle plant were a good example and success story of import substitution with the “Proudly made in Zimbabwe” products.
The President called on the Buy Zimbabwe campaign team to scale up their drive and encourage consumers to buy locally produced products to support the manufacturing industry. This is a very important message that all Zimbabweans should heed. The bulk of what the local industries produce should be consumed locally thereby enabling the companies to expand and create more jobs.
The companies on their part should strive to reduce production costs by adopting the latest technologies in their production lines so that their products are competitive. Locally produced products should be cheaper than imports.
A vibrant agro-manufacturing industry will benefit the entire agro value chain hence the need to support the revival of our manufacturing industries by consuming locally produced goods. When agro manufacturing industries increase capacity, the demand for raw materials increase which means farmers who produce the raw materials have a ready market.
We totally agree with Cde Mnangagwa that for the agro-manufacturing industries to be guaranteed adequate supply of raw materials, there is a need for the companies to develop well resourced outgrower schemes. Companies could come up with schemes to assist farmers with inputs such as seed and fertiliser to enable them to increase production.
The retail sector should encourage the consumption of locally produced products by ensuring that the bulk of the products in their shelves are sourced locally. Most of our food items can be produced locally so there is no need for retailers to import such products. Retailers should only import those products that cannot be produced locally and we believe these are very few.
We want to once again urge Zimbabweans to assist grow the economy by consuming locally produced products.
Online Reporter