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Tinashe Makichi Harare Bureau
Zimbabwe is importing cooking oil worth $220 million annually as the local manufacturers continue to use archaic and obsolete plant equipment making them uncompetitive in meeting local demand.
Since dollarisation most local cooking oil manufacturing companies have struggled to meet local demand, paving the way for imports that have since flooded the local market.

Imported cooking oil is generally cheaper and accounts for 40 percent of the local market requirements.
Olivine industries managing director Jonasi Mushangari said the lack of competitiveness among the local companies has increased cooking oil imports at the expense of the local industry.

“The disparity between the duty rates applicable to tariff automotive batteries and deep cycle batteries and cooking oil has the potential to completely undermine local manufacturers who will be forced to compete on an uneven playing field.

“The country is importing cooking oil worth $220 million annually at the expense of the local industry and it is surprising that even the army is importing cooking oil hence need for a vibrant public procurement support,” said Mushangari.

“Companies like Surface Cooking Oil combined with Olivine have the capacity to supply the local market.”
The slump in production in the cooking oil sector has been attributed to lack of working capital and the liquidity crisis that is affecting the economy.

At the moment Olivine industries which has been the biggest manufacturer of cooking oil is in need of about $32 million to increase capacity and retool its plant in order to meet the local demand.In this respect Government plans to start introspecting and interrogating its spending behaviour, procurement systems and redirecting national resources towards production and supporting the local industry.

Government is looking at preserving its national wealth by curtailing the spending mentality                                                                                that has destroyed different parastatals and other public enterprises through use of corrupt procurement systems.