Speaking at the commissioning of an industrial plant on Friday, Nestlé Zimbabwe managing director, Ben Ndiaye said the company’s cereal value chain has grown.
“We are looking for opportunities in Malawi. In Malawi we will sell small packs.We will be exporting our range of products, mostly the affordable small packs,” he said.
The company has been capacitating farmers throughout the country with dairy cows and that programme is ongoing.
The company’s industrial plant was commissioned at its factory, which is part of its $30 million capital investment set up for five years.
Nestlé Societe Anonyme senior vice president, John Miller said the projects entailed the upgrade in technology and operational efficiencies of the Harare factory.
“The capital investment projects have added value to Zimbabwe’s gross domestic product, as they have been undertaken largely by local engineering companies. The projects have also led to the increase in employment for Nestlé Zimbabwe, where the number of full-time employees has increased from 142 in 2011 to 214 in 2015 and the number of contract employees fluctuates between 70 and 120 depending on the level of production,” he said.
In a speech read on her behalf at the commissioning of the plant, Environment Water and Climate minister Oppah Muchinguri-Kashiri said it was gratifying to come across a company such as Nestlé that has environmental management policies.
“It is in this sense that I wish to acknowledge Nestlé Zimbabwe for investing in this industrial water plant, which will clean industrial waste and discharge clean water to the municipal works and eventually Mukuvisi River,” she said.
Muchinguri-Kashiri said if all companies in the Southerton industrial area embark on reducing solid waste discharge on municipal drainages, Harare water would greatly improve and this would reduce the cost of water treatment at Harare Municipal Morton Jaffray waterworks, currently being refurbished for over $144 million.
News Day