The Sunday Mail
Business Reporter
Zimglass, the country’s sole glass products manufacturer, might become the latest company to be brought back to life after being mothballed for a decade.
A local firm Brianman recently acquired the business.
Individuals and companies have been finding it increasingly difficult to secure glass for domestic and industrial processes on the local market, and have had to import using scarce foreign currency. Reviving the business will be a tall order.
“There is little that can be salvaged from the existing plant and we have to start from scratch,” Douglas Kwande, the owner of Brainman, told The Sunday Mail Business.
“What is there is rusty, dilapidated equipment that is beyond repair and needs to be replaced.
“This will involve huge amounts of money, but we are ready to go.”
Brainman acquired Zimglass — previously owned by the Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe — for $22 million. The company used to produce glass materials for bottling beer, soft drinks, food and pharmaceuticals, among others.
The company ceased operations in 2010 and has been failing to secure funding for recapitalisation, leading to its placement under judicial management in 2014.
It was later put under liquidation.
At that time, its creditors were owed more than US$34 million. Currently, about US$10 million is needed to revive the plant, according to liquidator Mr Winsley Militala.
Its most valuable asset is Industrial Sands, a company which holds vast concessions of the resource needed to produce glass.
The closure of Zimglass saw the country importing all its glass requirements after several unsuccessful efforts to bring in new investors. All container glass is now being imported, with companies such as Delta and Afdis buying from as far afield as Dubai and Egypt.
In the 10 months to October last year, Zimbabwe imported various glass products worth nearly US$12 million, according to figures from the Zimbabwe National Statistical Agency (Zimstat).
Some of the companies which previously expressed interest in buying the Gweru-based glass making plant include Nampak, Kioo Ltd of Tanzania and Mauritius-based Sahara. Alternative Investment Africa and Global Emerging Markets — a major shareholder in RioZim — once expressed interest in Zimglass.
Mr Kwande said “a lot of work” was already underway to bring back the factory to life, including acquisition of new equipment and furnaces.
“There is a lot of work going on behind the scenes, but it’s unfortunate that with global travel restrictions due to Covid-19, our team has been unable to go to China to assess the equipment and appreciate the products being produced by such equipment.
“We have the quotations and it seems we need as much as US$20 million in new equipment,” said Mr Kwande, whose business interests also include retail, farming, baking and milling.
Funding
A number of financial institutions have expressed interest to fund the revival of Zimglass given its potential.
“Funding will not be a challenge because many banks are already knocking on our doors,” he added.
“We are determined to see the plant work again, create jobs and reduce glass imports.”
Zimglass has retained some of the workers, especially the technical staff who are already on its payroll. The company was incorporated in 1963 as a subsidiary of Consol Glass and became an IDC company in 1984. It is situated in Gweru.
However, with the adoption of plastic technology for making containers, it appears Brainman needs serious innovation to secure alternative glass use from traditional customers.
