Zimbabwe: Filabusi cement plant in planning stages

Local entrepreneurs plan to establish a cement manufacturing company in Filabusi, Insiza district, with a cement capacity of 0.5Mta, according to the Zimbabwe Chronicle.

Philani Mpofu, who runs an engineering and construction firm based in Bulawayo, said major
preliminary works have been carried out on the limestone resources.

“We started working on this project in 2014 and have covered a lot of groundwork. Because this
is a massive project we’ve engaged Danish Cement Consultants to assist us in rolling out the
project,” said Mr Mpofu.

“So far we’ve done the aerial topographic survey using 3D technology with a Namibian firm.
We’ve completed mineral deposit identification and security with the Ministry of Mines and
Mining Development.

“We’ve also done an environmental prospectus with EMA who’ve given us the green light to
conduct a full environmental impact assessment (EIA).”

Securing fuel and power for the project is the next step, along with attracting further investors in the project.

“Working with our consultants, on Friday we did an assessment of the communication
infrastructure, that is, the railway and road network and its capacity. We also met Hwange
Colliery Company management on coal supply issues for the proposed plant,” he said.

“At the moment we’re in talks with Zesa for electricity connection. Ideally we’ll need 10MW, but we’ve tabled different options to the power utility to cut the costs.”

The multi-million dollar investment project is expected to create between 500 to 1000 job
opportunities for locals.

He would not disclose the total investment value and other partners involved but only said
his team was “working with potential investors that can’t be disclosed right now”.

He added his team visited different countries in Europe in March last year to identify and inspect suitable machinery for the project.