Business Reporter
MUTAPA Investment Fund (MIF) CEO , Dr John Mangudya says strategic investments have been made towards the revival of the country’s fertilizer value chain with markets set to recieve locally manufactured commodity going forwards.
He made the remarks while appearing before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Industry this week.
“The MIF has committed a substantial capital amount of US$153,1 million for the revival of the fertiliser value chain assets,” Dr Mangudya said.
He said they had disbursed US$5,3 million under phase 1 of the revival of the Dorowa Minerals phosphate plant, US$10 million to ZFC Limited, US$3 million to ZimPhos and US$13,3 million to Sable Chemicals.
The disbursement of the funds was being done in a phased approach against project milestones and verified expenditure.
Dr Mangudya said the refurbishment of Dorowa Minerals plant was 95 percent complete and expected to be fully operational next month, with a target production of 100 000 tonnes of phosphate concentrates.
This will translate to a production of 300 000 tonnes of basal fertiliser against an annual requirement of 450 000 tonnes.
The country requires approximately 1,4 million tonnes of fertilisers that include ammonium nitrate and single super-phosphates.
On the revival of the Zimphos sulphuric acid plant, Dr Mangudya said it was dependent on the resuscitation of Dorowa as it requires a reliable supply of phosphate concentrates to be fully operational.
“The rehabilitation of the sulphuric acid plant itself requires specialised engineering expertise and equipment with long procurement lead times.
“Progress has been made in resolving mobilisation challenges and technical assessments are currently underway to determine the integrity and compatibility of sulphuric acid plant equipment valued at approximately US$4 million, which was produced in 2010,” he said.
Dr Mangudya also told the committee that when they took over the companies in the fertiliser value chain in 2024, they identified several deficiencies that include obsolete plant and equipment, legacy debt and corporate governance issues that affected the entities’ operations.
