A Turkish Manufacturing Company has expressed interest in setting up a manufacturing plant for blankets on the copperbelt.
Rainbow Blankets Factory Manager Mustafa Kurt said Zambia offered opportunities which his company would want to explore.
Mr. Kurt who could not disclose how much his company would invest in the country said Rainbow would also explore investment opportunities in the manufacturing of carpets.
He said after the company has made the proposal it will soon start the manufacturing of blankets.
Speaking when his delegation paid a courtesy call on Commerce, Trade and Industry Minister Felix Mutati, Mr. Kurt said the country does not need to be importing blankets once the plant is set up.
And Mr. Mutati said Zambia has a lot of potential for the industry saying the country has only one manufacturing plant for blankets which is not able to meet the demand in the market.
He said there was already a market in the country and other neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) .
He said government would provide incentives to enable the company set up the plant so as to revive the industry that has been facing a lot of challenges.
ZANIS/MK/ENDS
Blanket manufacturing on the copper belt? I thought chipata was the ideal location as the cotton ginnery was within appropriate distance? CB is core of our minning (minerals) sector?…hello people?
Not to be xenophobic here but I hope they don’t come in large numbers to stay like they’ve done in other European countries.
If they are genuine investors they should be welcomed to Zambia as they will create employment opportunities for Zambians. Even if they come in numbers, as long as they are above board and bring opportunities for us Zambians then it is okay. Let us not be closed minded. As for the location of the factory, while Chipata has many ginneries, perhaps the Copperbelt has more developed interconnectivity and reliable access to inputs such as electricity.
Those Turkish need close scrutiny.. Otherwise they will just end up conniving with like of Moses Katumbi. I went to school with Turkish they were even stealing white-board markers.
Iwe Mr.Kurt why don’t you disclose the investment amount? You want to disclose nga balyamo first?
Hey guys, be careful with the moslems! If you bring be careful with the consequences. Abo ama guys they have terrorism characteristics. I agree with #2 that they don’t come in large numbers like swarms of bees
I knew it. I just knew it. Before i even read the whole story, i went to the comment section just to see the comments that where posted and i was very accurate with what i predicted. Zambians being “anti-investor” again. HAHAHAHAHAHA. So predictable.
Anywayz,
“the country has only one manufacturing plant for blankets which is not able to meet the demand in the market.”
“He said there was already a market in the country and other neighboring countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).”
“Mr. Kurt said the country does not need to be importing blankets once the plant is set up.”
Have you all read those parts. That says, there is only one blanket manufacturing company in..
cont..
the country. There are shortages in the country and there is market in and outside Zambia.
That is the way supply and demand (the free market) works people. HELLO!!!!! ANYONE THERE???
In all sense, this is a very good investment. I hope more manufacturers come in and more Zambians see the opportunity in that particular industry. This will certainly add to our balance of payments. We must move from copper dependence so as to set up a strong manufacturing industrialized economy. Thank you Turks. You are very welcome.
I honestly don’t get it.
East Asian investors “out to get our copper”
Indian investors “out to exploit us”
Western investors “imperialist”
South African investors “exploiters”
Nigerian and Kenyan investors “crooks”
Where does it stop. Somebody please explain to me who the genuine investor is…
The idea of Mustafa Kurt’s company setting up base in Zambia sounds good.
At the moment most blankets sold in Zambia are imported. Turkey is one of the leading exporters of such products and many of them are sold in Zambia. Blanket manufucturing in South Africa is dominated by 2 or 3 Turkish companies. The Rainbow company is attempting to increase market share in the region as they entered the South African market quite late.
Turkey is a secular state (not a moslem country) with majority of its population being moslem. The country’s status of as a secular state is highly valued by intellectuals and the middle class in general.
The question of workers being exploited can be addressed by statutory measures. The minimum wage in Zambia is disgracefully low. This makes it easy for companies to exploit workers without breaking any laws. This is exacerbated by the fact that only around 500,000 people are formally employed in Zambia. The government simply needs to set a decent minimum wage to be reviewed annually and put in place other enforceable labour laws covering health and safety,discrimination etc.
number 2 walipena
#9 FMC former CZ, the genuine investor is one who hopes to attain profit from a business set up in an economically siutable environment, balanced by an ethic decision-making process of the risk/benefit matrix, decided by the rigorous ethical realities of the natives involved considering their force deployment within a time continuum. Is that enough explanation???
#6 u r an *****, so the next time u decide to write and thus showing us how miniscule ur brain is, do some reseach first. turkey is one of the most secular countries in the world and as much as they have muslims not every turk is a mouslim and f.y.i turks are not arabs u fool. arabs , predominantly muslim however have the largest venture funds, that even america is courting their money just to keeep their fledgling economy bouyed up. what u r supposed to be concerned about however is how this benefits the zambian citizen and not just show that u are an ignorant xenophobic bastard. stay dull
If you are complain about foreigns investing in Zed then you should do so. This can help us to develop as at the moment they are getting everything from us. There is nothing we can say or be like Cuba.
#13. Nine Chale
Ok, now explain to me how “Zambians” are being “exploited” in this situation (the Turk situation)???
And also, why Zambian entrepreneurs (seeing that there was a shortage) did not start there own Blanket manufacturing firm???
Just want some answers…
AL you Zambian who have fled Zambia what have you done for your country. At aleast outsiders have faith in your country and are willing to invest their money in your country, unlike you traitors who have deserted the sinking ship never to return.
# 9, the Zambian investor.
#15 Free-Market-Capitalist, I did not say that Zambians are being exploited yet but was merely warning about what might turn out to be a turkish exodus into Zambia. What I have seen in other European countries does not make me feel comfortable with having them in my country. Just wait and see how they conduct themselves towards Africans..but don’t say I never warned.
#18. Hey
Then have you invested and if not, why haven’t you invested??
#19. Nine Chale
So what you’re telling me is all these countries investing in Zambia teamed up to exploit “one” country in Africa.
There are many other countries in Africa they would have gone to but no, they chose to exploit this “one” country.
What does Zambia have that is so special that these investors want to exploit this “one African country”.
they say ‘one man’s meat is another man’s poison’. ine i seem to enjoy the news of foregn direct investments finally trickling into zambia, and i find it hard to understand the scepticism of other people in this. ba free market i’m with you!
#21 Fact is that Zambia is richer in natural resources than most African countries like Mali, Chad or Mozambique. Fact is also that peace and stability has prevailed for decades and there are no current signs of gross disturbances. Zambians are literally sitting on gold but remain poor and this situation is exactly what makes us vulnerable to exploitation and attracts foreign investors to Zambia.
We Zambians need to organise ourselves properly to manage our own resources or else we will remain beggars forever, always relying on outsiders to come in, make us dig wells and sell us of our own water! Most Zambians are satisfied with less.
…besides, the free market is an illusion because it doesn’t exist for Africans. Just a few mths ago, German farmers were pouring gallons of milk on their fields in protest of free market policies which force their prices down.
Hey, you people think European economists care about African farmers or labourers? Why do I have to pay 4 Euros for a cup of coffee grown in Africa when an African Farmer gets only 20 cents? Who gets the rest? Why is chocolate so expensive in Africa and so cheap in Europe and yet they don’t grow cocoa there? Read between the lines! The only free market that makes sense is an African continental free-market.
#23. Nine Chale
And whos fault is it. Is it Europeans themselves or is it Africans failing to capitalize on there situations.
You said why must you pay 4 Euro’s for a cup of coffee when farmers get 20 cents. What you should be asking yourself is why didn’t i start a company that turns the farmers produce into coffee used for drinking so i can export it to European markets. Why must i insist to sell my beans to Nescafe and become a price taker when i can sell it to Zambian owned coffee companies and become a price maker. But where are the companies, Zambians are waiting for govt to start them instead of seeing the opportunity and capitalising on the situation.
cont…
You also said why is chocolate more expensive in Africa than Europe, what you should ask yourself is why haven’t i started a company that makes chocolate when the beans are just in my backyard.
Now in Agriculture, fine some govt intervention needs to be there but not through controlled prices but by price floors.
You said Zambians are sitting on Gold. Yes but why is the Gold being sat on. Why cant they get this same gold and make something out of it and sell what they made so they can benefit. I am not anti-investor because if Zambians cannot see the opportunities in their own country and someone else can, let them come.
cont..
Eastern Province has tonnes and tonnes of Cotton which can be used to produce clothing or something. Blankets, Curtains, bedsheets and what not. Yet you are watching it. You are watching the cotton being grown and exported and you want to whine to govt but YOU are looking right at the cotton right there.
If a German company sees this and says they want to set up a curtain making plant, oh hell breaks loose. Oh they are exploiting us, oh this, oh that. But you where looking at it. It is right there.
The Turkish company said “it is setting up a manufacturing plant” for the Zambian market and other markets within Africa. If it really wanted to exploit us, it would have said it
cont..
would have said it wanted to set up shops because with shops, the products will come straight from Turkey.
Look at the window of opportunity here. Eastern Province Farmers will at least get something for there produce. Zambians will be given jobs and it’ll add to the balance of payments, GDP and industrialization process of the country.
LASTLY I JUST WANT TO APOLOGIZE FOR THE LONG POST.
No need to apologize, I enjoy reasoning with progressive thinkers and I think your counterquestioning is legitimate. That’s what we Africans, Zambians in this case should be asking ourselves! Isn’t it humiliating that after over 40 yrs of so called “independence” we can’t even manufacture something as simple as a sewing needle? They have to be imported from India! I hope that through such debates on this blog, many a conscience will awaken and start an economic revolution. Good day, I’m out for now…
Careful with the Turkish people with trhei illegal businesses they never do in their own countries.Fake notes manufacturing,copying passports etc etc Europe cant manage them.They will have a field day in Zambia if not carefully monitored
#17 Enforcer ulicipuba.
You are one of the *****s who were jumping when kafupi was selling imigodi. Do you remember Binani, Anglo and the others?
Don`t you know that their are industries in India which are owned by foreigners and all they end up doing is sell products at a higher rate in the western countries?
Turkish investment is welcome in Zambia. Some of you are always complaining about foreign investors but you live in Zambia and all these investment opportunities being exploited but foreigners have always being there and you have not done anything but complain. Iwe chile who told you that manufacturing a needle is easy? I am interested in knowing your profession if you have any because if you were an engineer you would know that manufacturing macro components is very difficult and writing a CNC program for the same is not easy.
Am disappointed with the reaction of zambians upon reciept of this good news. Why are Zambians so pessimistic? When a Malaysian company announces its intention of setting up a mobile manufacturing company the reaction stinks of xenophobia, and ignorance. Its times we had some stuff manufactured in Zambia with Made in Zambia labels. For how long are we going to be importing blankest from the xonophobic country? Wake up and read widely.
YOURSELF #9.As long as you let foreigners invest in all sectors you will have to live with them, now do something about it , otherwise just go on with your life.
#17. Enforcer
”AL you Zambian who have fled Zambia what have you done for your country”
Ask western union and you will be supprised..
Let them come maybe they might make a change in the textile industry since this has failed in Zambia. If they also fails who cares?
# 31
Look at all the employment generated in India, the taxes raised. Not everyone is a theif like you you fool!
# 31
Look at all the employment generated in India, the taxes raised. Not everyone is a theif like you you fool!
#35
Investors bring more money than western union, its good you care for you family