Zimbabwe President Robert Mugabe commissioned a highly mechanized mega cement plant worth 82 million dollars expected to reduce the price of cement.
The ultra-modern processing plant owned by the Pretoria Portland Cement (PPC) & built by Chinese firm Sinoma over two years up to 2016, will produce an annual output of 700,000 tonnes according to the Herald.
Furthermore, the plant which is the firm’s third plant in Zimbabwe is expected to increase the total firm’s production capacity from 1.1 million tonnes to 1.8 million tonnes per annum, meeting the national demand of Zimbabwe which is estimated to be below a million tonnes.
The mega plant is expected to drive the country’s vision of industrialization, create employment and facilitate infrastructure development other than impacting the price of cement in the Southern African nation.
President Mugabe said that the massive investment meant the country’s indigenization law that calls for more local ownership (51 percent owned by locals and 49 percent foreign ownership) did not inhibit foreign direct investment.
“PPC Zimbabwe has demonstrated what many other companies are still struggling to put in place and it has demonstrated also that the indigenization and empowerment philosophy is no hindrance to foreign investment, but instead the policy guarantees the security of such investment.” Said President Mugabe
The plant has a state-of-the-art palletizer and plastic cover wrapping machine. The machine is automated and packs 40 bags of cement into a pallet in a neat unit. The palletizer helps to improve output, making life easier and improving service delivery to customers according to Xinhua.
“The plant’s design and construction was done in adherence to global emissions standards, thanks to the technology and expertise from PPC’s Chinese partners,” said Mugabe
