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VP Emmerson Mnangagwa

Patrick Chitumba, Midlands Bureau Chief
THE estimated $1 million mealie-meal milling plant and silos at Maphisa Growth Point in Kezi, Matabeleland South, will be officially opened in a few weeks’ time, Vice President Emmerson Mnangagwa has said.

The investment project is being set up as part of Government and private sector partnership in championing value addition and beneficiation as espoused in the country’s economic blue print, Zim Asset.

The Agricultural and Rural Development Authority (Arda) entered into a Private Public Partnership (PPP) with Trek Petroleum in a deal that resulted in the revival of Arda Antelope in Maphisa and Ingwizi Estates in Mangwe.

“We are in a few weeks’ time going to Matabeleland South to open a mealie-meal milling company at Maphisa Growth point. Instead of sending maize to Bulawayo GMB silos, we will see mealie-meal going to the Bulawayo market and other areas from Maphisa and that’s value addition,” said VP Mnangagwa who was speaking at Fair Acres Arda Estate in Zhombe last Thursday.

“From the fields, driers were set up as well as silos. From the silos to the milling company and from the milling company we have mealie meal. We have such plans for all the districts across the country.

“We want to invite the Minister of Finance (Dr Ignatius Chombo) so that he can see that we can have PPPs which don’t require funding from the Government. Such joint ventures can be used in other sectors of the economy.”

The Vice President said the Government was working on having similar projects in all the districts across the country to value add products for socio-economic growth of the country.

He said the grain value addition model being promoted at Maphisa would create more job opportunities. VP Mnangagwa  urged Zimbabweans to vote for Zanu PF and President Mugabe whose leadership has championed such progressive development programmes.

Arda board chairman, Mr Basil Nyabadza, said the authority was inviting investment into its estates.

“Arda is the biggest field of the Government of Zimbabwe and there is evidence throughout the country that there is production and productivity. First we thank the vision of President Mugabe who two years ago assembled a team headed by VP Mnangagwa on food security and nutrition and we are now seeing results. Arda programmes will transform the economy,” he said.