Tanzania: Zanzibar Sugar Factory to Resume

Posted on : Friday , 30th October 2015

Zanzibar Sugar Factory Limited (ZSFL) at Mahonda, which has been out of production for the past four years is expected to resume operations writes ANDREW ZABLON Company officials said last week operations will start up again early next year.

"We are doing the rehabilitation work and by January next year we will in tourism income flowing to local economies, travel companies and airlines start production,"P. K. Nigam, Manager, Sales and Purchase said.

ZSFL suspended production in 2011 due to equipment malfunction resulting from gradual wear and tear. ZSFL is located at Unguja North region.

By late 2000, the sugar factory produced over 100 tonnes of sugar, but apart from poor equipment, marketing of the commodity was also a challenge.

The use of outdated machinery was expensive and was dependent on outdated technology that uses diesel and fuel wood.

In 2013, an outside investor stepped in to for stall further dilapidation. New owner Misra Costech Sugar Company of India brought in their own management team of 38 engineers to Zanzibar to rehabilitate the sugar factory.

Repair work was expected to be complete in September, 2013 but there has been some delays, which has meant a rescheduled opening for the plant.

A total of $15 million was to be injected into the investment that is geared to do away with dependency on imported sugar for the consumption of Islanders.

The plant has the capacity to produce 40 tonnes of sugar a day, but it was only producing 15 tonnes before breaking down altogether.

Upon full production, ZSFL would need 5,400 hectares of land in total for sugar farming on the Isles.

Source : allafrica.com

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