Story by Owen Mandovha, Business Reporter
A robust national economic industrialisation policy implemented by the Second Republic has witnessed an unprecedented formation and revival of hundreds of companies never witnessed in the history of Zimbabwe’s economy.
Amid a difficult operating environment and in particular COVID-19-induced disruptions for the better part of the last five years, the government still managed to effectively implement its robust industrialisation drive to increase manufacturing capacity and create jobs.
A report recently tabled to the cabinet by the Minister of Industry and Commerce, Dr Sekai Nzenza illustrated an historic industrial drive carried out by the government which birthed and revived numerous companies in such a short period.
In the food processing sector, beverages giant Varun Beverages, oil processing firm Mount Meru, Barmore in the milling sector, and Agri Value Chain, which is into edible oil processing, were commissioned.
Others such as Kefalos Cheese and Delta Beverages underwent a robust expansion drive, owing to increased demand for local products, while the likes of Ingwebu Breweries which had folded came back to life following capital injection.
Consequently, manufacturing capacity which stood at a record low of around 35 percent in 2018 crept substantially to over 65 percent on average.
The impact has over the years reflected on the disappearance of imported products on supermarket shelves, while local products are now dominating.