
Oliver Kazunga, Harare Bureau
LISTED piping manufacturer Proplastics Limited has invested US$12 million in a new Harare factory, with plans to expand regionally by establishing another plant in Botswana, an official has said.
Speaking during a tour of the new plant yesterday by Finance, Economic Development and Investment Promotion Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube, Proplastics chief executive Mr Kuda Chigiya said the investment in new technology was necessary because the company’s older factories could no longer produce products meeting market trends.
“Over the past three years, we have managed to construct a new factory because all the 1965 (the year the company was formed) factories became irrelevant to operations,” said Mr Chigiya.
“We spent some US$7 million and we put in additional money for production and mixing equipment to ensure the integration of the value chain.”

With an installed capacity of 12 000 tonnes per annum, Proplastics manufactures a wide variety of piping products, including PVC, sewer, electrical conduit, borehole casing, soil waste and vent, Minetuff and polythene pipes.
Proplastics’ annual production is 7 000 tonnes and the company exports to several countries, including Sierra Leone, Mozambique, Tanzania, Malawi, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Zambia.
Mr Chigiya expressed optimism about Proplastics’ prospects, citing opportunities in agriculture, mining, construction and Government-led infrastructure projects.
Climate change will also drive continued borehole drilling.
The mining sector’s exploration activities and water requirements for slurry and tailings rehabilitation present further opportunities.
The company expects municipalities rehabilitating their sewer and water systems to create a market for its PVC pipes.
New dam projects like Gwayi-Tshangani, Marovanyati and Kunzvi require extensive piping infrastructure to deliver water to communities, industries and irrigation projects.
Proplastics plans to establish a new production plant in Botswana to capitalise on tariff benefits and economic processing zones. Mr Chigiya said the project was a completely new initiative and as such was not a relocation of existing Zimbabwean assets.
“We are not in any way going to take any one piece of equipment from Zimbabwe to Botswana — this is a completely new initiative that the business is taking,” said Mr Chigiya, whose firm employs about 300 people directly and indirectly.