Cotton ginning, oil processing plant employs 270

A cotton ginning and oil processing plant Agri Value Chain (AVC) Zimbabwe Pvt Ltd, which started operations in November last year, has so far employed 270 people in Chegutu and is expected to recruit more after the building and expansion stage.

The company took on board at least 40 former workers of the agro-focused firm, Cargill, and is currently producing 50 000 litres of crude oil, which is supplied to cooking oil manufacturer, ZimGold.

AVC Pvt Ltd, which is still at the building and expansion stage, is mainly involved in toll ginning and is currently ginning for most Zimbabwean cotton companies, including Cottco and Zimbabwe Cotton Consortium.

In an interview on Wednesday, AVC Pvt Ltd general manager Mr Ritesh Sharma said the plant was processing 400 tonnes of cotton per day and was expected to increase to 45 000 tonnes.

“All the cotton that we are processing comes from various cotton companies in Zimbabwe and we mainly focus on toll ginning,” he said.

“This means that we are ginning cotton for various cotton companies, but very soon we expect to be processing our own cotton.

“We are currently processing 400 tonnes of cotton per day and we have potential to process 45 000 tonnes at full capacity. We are not fully operational because we are working on expanding the project.”

Mr Sharma said production at the plant was mainly being affected by power cuts.

“Industry is being affected by power cuts, it is very difficult for us to operate without power and that basically means that our morning shifts are affected because workers will not be able to work during the day, but still get paid,” he said.

“If we calculate the number of hours that we spend without power, it will show you that we are losing 300 tonnes of cotton per day.

“We have applied for a dedicated power line and the matter is before ZESA. More production is expected when we have electricity and this will also enhance employment opportunities.”