Online Reporter
Lovemore Kadzura
Post Reporter
ZIMBABWE’S timber value chain is set for a historic revival following Wattle Company’s announcement of a US$10 million pulp manufacturing plant at its Selbourne plantation in Mutasa District — a development hailed as a milestone in the Government’s value addition and beneficiation agenda.
The plant is expected to create more than 400 direct jobs, while converting timber waste into high-value paper, newsprint, and board products.
This will significantly reduce Zimbabwe’s reliance on costly imports that have weighed heavily on the printing and construction sectors for decades.
Since the collapse of Mutare Board and Paper Mill during the hyperinflation era, the country has been dependent on imported bond paper, newsprint, and boards. The new investment promises to reverse that trend, positioning Manicaland as a hub for industrial recovery.
Beyond immediate economic benefits, the project is anticipated to accelerate the establishment of Integrated Provincial Special Economic Zones (IP-SEZs) in the province.
Government has described these zones as critical engines for industrialisation, employment creation, and provincial GDP growth.
Cabinet on Tuesday approved the framework for IP-SEZs to strengthen the existing Special Economic Zones regime under the Zimbabwe Investment and Development Agency (ZIDA) Act [Chapter 14:34], a model that seeks to deepen provincial integration and decentralised industrial development, anchored on the philosophy of “leaving no one and no place behind”.
The envisaged benefits include accelerated industrialisation and value addition, balanced regional development, enhanced investment attraction, employment creation, skills development and improved competitiveness in regional and global markets.
The framework will establish a network of specialised SEZs across all provinces, starting with Village Business Units and aligned to each region’s comparative advantages.
Each zone will function as a complete industrial ecosystem comprising upstream production, midstream processing, downstream manufacturing, logistics, infrastructure and services.
Manicaland will focus on agro-processing, tourism, renewable energy and diamond processing, with Wattle Company’s pulp plant set to become a flagship project in the province’s industrial rebirth.
Land clearing for the project has already begun, with six graves recently exhumed and reburied at a new site to pave the way for the construction of the plant – in a development marks the first large-scale pulp investment since the collapse of the Mutare Board and Paper Mill, which was the country’s sole producer of newsprint and boards before it shut down.
Mutare Board and Paper Mill’s closure left heaps of sawdust wasted and smaller trees burnt, raw materials that will now feed the new plant, and now industry experts believe the new facility will reposition forestry as a key pillar of industrial growth, transforming residue into paper, packaging and board products for domestic and export markets.
The project aligns with Government’s policy to beneficiate raw commodities, resuscitate dormant value chains, and anchor the rebirth of a sector that once underpinned the economy of Manicaland.
Addressing stakeholders at the provincial fire launch last week, Wattle Company community affairs manager, Mr Maxwell Kuhudzai said the plant is expected to play a vital role in the beneficiation and value-addition agenda of the timber industry.
“We are currently constructing a pulp plant at our Selbourne plantation. The plant will manufacture paper, board and other timber-related products. This was previously only done by Mutare Board and Paper Mills before they closed. The plant will employ more than 400 people, including those from surrounding communities. All the timber waste currently being discarded, such as sawdust and off-cuts, will be the key raw materials. We harvest our timber at 25 years and leave the young trees, which are burnt when clearing land for replanting. All these small trees will be harvested and processed at the pulp plant.
At the moment there is not a single company in the country manufacturing paper and we are relying on imports,” said Mr Kuhudzai.
The Director of Economic Affairs in the Office of the President and Cabinet, Mr Munyaradzi Rubaya, said the substantial investment by Wattle Company will deliver multiplier benefits such as import substitution, maximum timber utilisation, employment creation and the commercial development of Mutasa DC Growth Point.
He said the Government’s doors are open to assist companies and individuals who wish to set up factories.
“We have not been adding value to our timber as a province. Most of the timber is being sold outside the province in its raw form. For the first time in many years we are establishing an industry that will add value and produce finished products. Nationally, the packaging industry will also benefit as most paper packaging materials are coming from South Africa. This industry will lead to the expansion of several downstream industries. The plant will assist with import substitution. Timber harvest losses will also be reduced, as currently we harvest the log and discard a lot of off-cuts. Timber utilisation will be improved. An estimated 50 percent of the timber is either left to rot or used as firewood, so this factory will improve utilisation of timber, which is a critical resource for the province. That pulp plant will contribute to economic growth and boost the manufacturing sector’s contribution to gross domestic product.
“Our expectation is that all these hundreds of employees will require houses at Mutasa DC, which will grow into a town — that is regional development. Investment in the real estate and commercial sectors is expected to be boosted in Mutasa District,” said Mr Rubaya.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries Manicaland president, Mr Bernard Makoni said the industry is keen to set up timber processing plants and add value to the product as in the past, but structural issues needed to be addressed first, such as the lack of long-term financing, cost of doing business, and the fact that the resource is still too young to harvest due to years of reduced planting.
“The will is there from the industry to set up factories to add value to timber, but the pace at which it will happen is slow and largely determined by operational challenges – cost of raw materials, machinery and production itself. At a large scale, we still have companies in Manicaland that are adding value to timber, such as Reeldon, Electrosales, Halsteads and PG Industries. We also have small to medium enterprises contributing immensely at Murahwa People’s Green Market and Mutare Showgrounds.
“Zimbabwe as a whole has a shortage of timber suitable for value addition and further processing. Our timber is still too young, as maturing takes a long time. Currently imports are coming from South Africa, Brazil, Mozambique and other countries, and those who want to move into value addition face the hurdle of importing, which has its own challenges. The cost of production is very high and this is affecting the establishment of new factories and the resuscitation of dormant ones,” said Mr Makoni.
There have been concerns that the province is not fully benefiting from its timber resources and that the product is mainly leaving in its raw form.
Value addition, where most jobs are, is being done outside the province, leaving the producing areas with little to show.
The timber sector remains one of the major drivers of the provincial gross domestic product and spans Nyanga, Mutasa, Mutare, Chimanimani and Chipinge districts.
