Zimbabwe will soon have a modernised cement facility producing 0.2Mta with improved environmental performance. The Chinese-Zimbabwean joint venture is on track to complete a modernisation project that will cost the Chinese shareholder US$5m.
The plant, which started operation in 2001, is a joint venture between Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe and China Building Material Industrial Corporation for Foreign Econo-Technical Cooperation with an initial investment US$54m. The works is located in the mineral-rich Midlands province.
Wang Yong, the plant's managing director, said money is being spent on improving pollution control while the rest of the funds was being used to refurbish cement mills, kilns, build a cement warehouse and install new packaging lines. After the upgrade, expected to be completed in the next few months, the Sino-Zimbabwe Cement Company will become one of the country's top cement producers, said Yong.
"We are now halfway through the upgrade," he told Xinhua last week at the cement plant. "We have installed a modern bag filter system to cut emissions."
He said cement suppliers were poised to benefit from increased infrastructure developments, if the government's five-year economic plan is being fully implemented. The factory employs more than 400 workers, with 95 per cent from Zimbabwe, manning almost all ranks of positions from assembly line workers to senior managers.
"We are optimistic about the future," Yong said, adding they would redouble efforts to attract greater investment from China to fund further facilities upgrades and even expansion.
