PPC to increase investment in Zimbabwe
Category Company News
Buoyed by the indigenisation compliance deal it has struck with the Zimbabwe government‚ JSE-listed cement manufacturer PPC has revealed that it is planning a new $200m cement manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe.
PPC said on Monday that its Zimbabwean subsidiary‚ Portland Holdings Limited (PHL) had received an indigenisation certificate from the Zimbabwean government following a series of engagements between the company and government.
“The whole (new) plant will be funded to the tune of $200m and will have a capacity to produce one million tons‚” said PPC Zimbabwe MD Zak Limbada as the company launched a community share ownership scheme for its local unit on Monday.
The company already has two manufacturing plants; one in Bulawayo – Zimbabwe’s second largest city and another in Colleen Bawn. It has already started drilling for the new plant.
Empowerment Minister Saviour Kasukuwere said during the signing ceremony for the community share ownership scheme that “what PPC has done (complying with the indigenisation policy) ensures certainty and security to their investment” in the country.
“The growth in the financial year for Zimbabwe has by far surpassed all other years and we look forward to more exciting development as we entrench our Africa wide footprint in line with our sustainable strategy‚” said Tryphosa Ramano‚ chief financial officer of the Zimbabwe unit of PPC.
The company’s CEO Paul Stuiver has said that the “Zimbabwe market (was) an exciting growth opportunity” and the company was expecting its operations there “to approach full capacity” in the next two or three years.
He said compliance with the contentious empowerment policy “opens up further investment opportunities" in Zimbabwe.
The empowerment agreement reached between PPC and the Zimbabwe government will see the company’s local unit ceding a 10% shareholding to the Gwanda and Umguza communities while a special purpose vehicle will get 4.9%.
A further 9.7% will be given to the National Indigenisation and Economic Empowerment Fund while the company’s workers are set to get a 5% stake under an employee share ownership scheme.
Other South African companies that have been forced to comply with the Zimbabwean empowerment policy include Impala Platinum‚ Anglo Platinum and Aquarius Platinum.
Author: Warehouse Finder
