Bulawayo soybean oil plant expected to create 400 jobs
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on 263Chat
Illustrative image · Safi Erneste · Pexels · Licence PexelsA soybean processing plant for cooking oil, about 85% complete in Bulawayo, is expected to create up to 400 direct jobs in Zimbabwe. The site will include storage, extraction, refining and bottling facilities; about 65% of the required equipment has already arrived, according to Fats & Feeds deputy manager Zacharia Mupachike.
The soybean oil extraction and refining plant under construction in Bulawayo, Zimbabwe, is about 85% complete and is expected to directly employ between 300 and 400 people once operational, according to Zacharia Mupachike, deputy manager of Fats & Feeds, quoted by 263Chat.
The construction site had 276 workers during a visit by Information Minister Zhemu Soda. Most were recruited locally and 25 came from outside the region, Mupachike said. The plant is also expected to create opportunities for farmers, transport operators and small-scale entrepreneurs.
The site will include grain storage, oil extraction, refining and bottling. Its silos will each be able to hold about 5,000 tonnes and its tanks will each have a capacity of about 250,000 litres. About 65% of the required equipment had arrived on site during the visit.
Solar panels are being installed on the roofs and another solar installation is being prepared. The project comes as Zimbabwe seeks to increase local processing and reduce its dependence on imported finished products. The country also launched a project for a 6,000-home town in Kadoma on 1 November, according to the announcement of the housing project.
