Zimpapers Logo

Lovemore Zigara, Midlands Correspondent
GWERU-based shoe manufacturer, Bata Shoe Company, has set its eyes on exporting its canvas products to South Africa.

The company has already set up established markets in Malawi, Zambia and Botswana and last year tried to explore the Ugandan and Kenyan markets.

In 2015, Bata exported footwear to Latin America where it made an initial shipment of 3 000 pairs of export safari shoes (popularly known as the farmer shoes). Last year Bata announced that it would take advantage of its presence in some of the countries in that region such as Venezuela and Bolivia.

However, exports to South America have been halted. The company managing director, Mr Ehsan Zaman, told Business Chronicle that he believes the Tommy tennis shoes will make an impact in South Africa.

“Last year our exports increased in terms of value and quantities but we did not do any exports to Latin America, which was done in 2015. We did not export to Kenya either and Uganda but we exported to Malawi, Zambia and Botswana. There is an opportunity also to export to South Africa canvas shoes especially our Tommy brand, which is well established and accepted in our local market,” said Mr Zaman.

“I believe it will be accepted in the South African market and discussions are underway with our sister companies in South Africa.

“However, one of the challenges is that we are having difficulties in getting textiles, which is a major component in the manufacture of canvas shoes. We buy textiles locally, which is of good quality but they are having some challenges, which has resulted in us not getting some regular supplies and that is frustrating our efforts.”

The Bata boss said he was optimistic that the situation would improve due to a promising cotton season where the country is expected to harvest an excess of 230 thousand metric tonnes of the white gold.

Mr Zaman said the company had made inroads in the export of leather shoes but the gains had been eroded by fluctuating prices of raw hides.

“With regards to leather exports we have exported more pairs but in terms of value it has not increased significantly compared to last year. It’s mainly because the leather shoe product has not increased much. We need to do more to be competitive because the raw hides market fluctuates and sometimes the price goes very high. This is because of some demands created by some buyers,” he said.

The firm employs about 1 100 employees and produces 2,2 million pairs of shoes annually. It is operating at 95 percent capacity utilisation. — @lavuzigara1