Cement manufacturer PPC Zimbabwe is positive its acquisition of an indigenisation certificate in 2012 will enable it to forge ahead of competition as the building industry improves.
Business Development and Corporate Strategy director Gavin Stephens said the company, a subsidiary of PPC South Africa, is in the process of implementing the indigenisation law.
“We are in the process of implementing this ahead of the competition. It will give the community and employees shares in the company,” he said.
During the hyper-inflation period, cement sales dropped to 400,000 tons a year compared to an industry high of 1,1 million in 1999.
However fortunes have recovered for the industry and PPC is on a drive to grow the company in the region.Last year the parent company’s annual report commended the Zimbabwean operation for recording a fifth consecutive financial year of growth.
“Cement volumes were under pressure in South Africa and Botswana, while sales volumes in Zimbabwe continued to improve,” executive chairman Bheki Sibiya said.
PPC has nine manufacturing facilities and three milling depots in South Africa, Botswana and Zimbabwe that can produce around eight million tons of cement products each year.
Investment at the company’s Bulawayo plant grew capacity from 650,000 tons to 1,1 million tons.
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