Agriculture Industry giant National Foods also known as Natfoods recently revealed that they would soon be making capital expenditure to the tune of US$9 million to acquire a flour mill and cereal manufacturing equipment. The new plant will be used to boost production levels at its current factories.

This was revealed in the statement that was attached to the firm’s year-end financial statements for the year ending June 2021.

The board has approved the purchase of a new state of the art flour mill, which will be installed as a replacement for the existing mill at the Bulawayo Basch Street site, at an estimated cost of US$5m and the project is now underway and progressing on schedule with commissioning scheduled for late 2022.
The board has approved the acquisition of additional cereal manufacturing equipment at a cost of US$4m which will allow the group to expand its repertoire of breakfast cereals and extruded products.
Todd Moyo NatFoods board chariman

Weaning the country off foreign currency

One of the problems that the Zimbabwean economy is facing is that we import more than we export. Most business activity is concentrated in the primary sector. This has led to foreign currency shortages and Zimbabwe developing an unhealthy addiction to the foreign currency which is required to import even basics such as flour.

Weaning the country off this foreign currency habit has proved to be an impossible endeavour for the authorities. Mainly I think because they have chosen to focus on formal businesses in terms of fiscal and monetary support at the detriment of small informal businesses. This is despite the fact that informal business form the bulk of the economy in Zimbabwe.