The National University of Science and Technology (NUST) is setting up the Bulawayo Technology Centre (BTC), a factory that will manufacture containers and also process honey and fruits.
NUST’s Pro-Vice Chancellor, Innovation and Business Development William Goriwondo told the Chronicle that the machinery for the factory was sourced by India on behalf of the Government of Zimbabwe. Said Goriwondo:
The equipment is coming through as a partnership between Zimbabwe and the Indian government. We call it the Indo-Zim partnership which has brought machines here.
We are establishing the Bulawayo Technology Centre where we have various equipment that is going to be used to make various products with NUST housing this equipment.
We are also working with the Ministry of Higher and Tertiary Education, Innovation and Technology Development as our parent ministry and Bulawayo Polytechnic is involved as well.
In terms of installation of the equipment we have done most of the equipment and the final touches are done and we are working with engineers and technicians from India.
Goriwondo added that the plant, which was supposed to start running in 2020 before its mounting was stalled by the outbreak of COVID-19, is expected to be commissioned before the end of the year. He said:
The installation is just starting. The machines have been here through the pre-Covid-19 era but could not be installed because the engineers could not come.
But after the lifting of the ban on travel we are finalising the installation. At the moment we are just finalising the set-up for commissioning and we are saying by the end of this quarter we should be having the machines running.
We are going to be doing honey processing and honey products and also fruit jam processing. We also have plastic moulding injection, moulding and blow moulding equipment to make plastic bottles.