ZIMBABWE has invited bids from local and international investors to set up a new sugar plant to make the industry more competitive.
The government is seeking investors who can set up a new mill in the south-eastern lowveld region that borders Mozambique and South Africa with capacity to process 10 to 50 million tonnes of sugar a year, permanent secretary of the ministry of Industry and Commerce Thomas Utete Wushe said.
It will cater to farmers looking for alternative sources of milling their cane, he said. Zimbabwe currently has two mills with a combined annual sugar production capacity of about 640 000 million tonnes. South Africabased Tongaat Hulett Ltd’s Zimbabwean unit has controlling stakes in both.
“The investor will decide what they want to install, but this is a new project all together which is different from the current operations that have been set up by Tongaat Hulett,” Wushe said. “We are looking for something new.”
Tongaat was placed in administration last year after failing to recover from an accounting scandal that exposed a mountain of debt. Its sugar operations in Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe weren’t financially distressed and continued trading. Business rescue practitioners are currently considering offers for the company. — Bloomberg
