By Jonathan Mbiriyamveka
Delta Corporation has urged government to focus on rebuilding infrastructure and improving utility supplies such as roads, power and portable water which are key to the company’s pro-growth strategies.
Speaking at the commissioning of three investment projects worth US$70 million in Harare, Delta Corporation CEO Matlhogonolo Valela said the company would continue to pursue pro-growth strategies for the good of the people and nation at large.
“Our ask, Your Excellency, is for continued government efforts in facilitating key enablers. We applaud and encouraged government to focus on rebuilding infrastructure and improving utility supplies — roads, power and portable water are key to us.
“We encourage and support the efforts to stabilize the macroeconomic environment and ask that government drives harder on this while maintaining some modicum of policy predictability and stability to facilitate long-term planning,” Mr Valela said.
He said Delta Corporation was not only encouraged by the opportunities in Zimbabwe but in Africa as a whole.
“We are the biggest traditional beer operation in Africa; we understand the tastes, consumption behaviours and traditions of our African people and would like to leverage this knowledge to march into Africa with our heritage.
“Our journey to be a Pan African business headquartered in Harare began with the acquisition of Sorghum beer breweries in Zambia and South Africa.
“By September this year, we will commission a new Chibuku Super Line in Pretoria as we expand our footprint, grow earnings, and provide career growth opportunities for our 7000 people that are directly under our employ.”
Mr Valela said the company hoped that the country’s policies would continue to encourage higher growth of consumer spending through productivity, enterprise development and stability on the macroeconomic front so that the company exhausts the new capacities in order to further drive economic growth across the value chain and deliver on its contribution to vision 2023 through uplifting livelihoods of Zimbabweans.
Delta Corporation contributes significantly to the fiscus having paid nearly US$200 million in various taxes for the year just ended.
The company also contracts 12000 small-scale farmers in sorghum and maize growing and 7000 hectares in barley farming for its direct inputs and also deliberately localize its supply chain to encourage employment creation and economic growth.
It also among other things, supports more than 20000 retail customers and provide them with training on essential business skills as necessary.
This year, Delta Corporation celebrates 125 years of operations in Zimbabwe.
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