Bakhresa Malawi Limited, a subsidiary of Tanzania-based conglomerate Bakhresa Group, is setting up a $100 million cooking oil manufacturing plant in Blantyre.
The investment would be a boost to Malawi’s efforts to spur economic activity with a guarantee of employment, a ready market for oil seeds such as soya and competition on the cooking oil retail market.
In an interview on Monday, Bakhresa Malawi Limited Human Resource and Compliance Manager Richard Tchereko said to run the plant at full capacity, it will require 150,000 tonnes (about 140 million kilogrammes (kg)) of soya beans a year.
This translates to a K112 billion (about $95 million) demand for the crop at the current government farmgate price of K800 per kg.
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“We envisage procuring about 150,000 tonnes of soya beans in every harvest season. Therefore, this project will significantly stimulate small holder farmers to embrace crop diversification and grow more soybeans because of this potentially huge readily available market at Bakhresa Malawi Limited.
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“Local value addition literally means job creation. This project is expected to create direct employment for about 500 indigenous Malawians and indirectly several thousands will get employed in its total value chain ecosystem,” Tchereko said.
He added that the plant is expected to be operational at the end of the harvesting season next year.
Bakhresa Malawi General Manager Venkatesh Rao Pattipati said the factory is a game changer in the agro-processing sector.
Speaking during his recent visit to the construction site, Minister of Trade and Industry Sosten Gwengwe said the investment is testament to the government’s commitment of creating a conducive business environment for the private sector.
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The development speaks to pillar 2 of the Malawi 2063 development blueprint which focuses on industrialisation, stressing that it is key in creating jobs, especially for the youth.
The Malawi 2063 Investment Plan (MIP) 1 further indicates that employment in the industry sector is expected to increase from 13.8 percent in 2019 to at least 16.1 percent by 2030 orchestrated by such developments.
