Story by Gay Matambo
GOVERNMENT has reaffirmed the centrality of public-private partnerships (PPPs) in driving Zimbabwe’s industrialisation agenda, with Vice President General (Retired) Dr Constantino Chiwenga emphasising the need for coordinated action between the State and private sector to accelerate economic growth.
This follows the conclusion of the Vice President’s tour of key economic projects across Manicaland Province, which focused on assessing production capacity, identifying operational constraints and exploring avenues for scaling up output.
The tour ended in Mutare with a visit to the Willowton Margarine and Cooking Oil Plant, where Vice President Dr Chiwenga highlighted the strategic importance of value addition and regional market integration.
“What they are doing here creates half a basket of basic commodities. They are manufacturing cooking oil, soap and margarine. There is room for them to expand from what they are doing in terms of growth, distribution of products, and entrance into the market, not only the local market but in the region as well and in the region we must look further to COMESA.
“We will be assuming the COMESA chairmanship this year, which is a 600 million population. Once we do this, we want to go further. There are certain things that we must do together that we have discussed and agreed on the way forward on what the Government should do to help them grow, what we can assist them with and what they should do also, and what the Minister of State and his team should do locally with the company,” he said.
The Willowton plant, commissioned in 2018, is producing close to 230 000 litres of cooking oil per day. A recent expansion has also strengthened margarine production, positioning the company to compete more effectively within the region.
Willowton General Manager, Mr Gaurav Bhansali, said the company continues to reinvest in capacity expansion and energy security.
“After every one or two years, we bring in new investment in the company, and investors are confident about the economy in Zimbabwe and the business. Now we are putting up a solar backup that is 3.1 megawatts, which is close to a US$2 million investment. Also, we are planning to increase our refining capacity by 100 percent in the next two years,” he said.
Manicaland Minister of State for Provincial Affairs and Devolution, Advocate Misheck Mugadza, said the visit provided insight into the impact of ongoing investments in the province.
“We want to thank President Emmerson Mnangagwa for the way he is steering us and running this country. The economy of Manicaland is obviously on the rebound, and this visit has been an eye-opener,” he said.
Earlier, Vice President Dr Chiwenga toured Manica Boards and Doors manufacturing plant in Mutare, where he reiterated the importance of structured engagement between Government and industry.
“The main purpose that we are here is to understand high-impact projects from the central Government’s point of view. We want to establish the challenges you are facing and together what solutions we can come up with so that we can accelerate the growth of the companies or of the projects and double their production, because the growth of any economy comes from the activities of each entity. We encourage cooperation between the private sector and Government,” he said.
Since the start of the tour on March 18, the Vice President has visited a range of enterprises across manufacturing, agriculture and energy sectors, including Green Fuel Private Limited in Chisumbanje, Verify Engineering in Feruka and Matanuska Banana Estate in Burma Valley.
The engagements form part of Government’s broader efforts to strengthen industrial capacity, support private sector investment and align economic activity with the National Development Strategy Two (NDS2), which underpins Zimbabwe’s Vision 2030 targets.
