CSC Gets US$9.3m Boost for Bulawayo Abattoir Revival

Zimbabwe’s state-owned Cold Storage Company (CSC) is rehabilitating its flagship Bulawayo abattoir with a US$9.3 million cash injection from the Mutapa Investment Fund, aiming to restore processing capacity toward a target of at least 800 cattle a day.

The plant is currently slaughtering roughly 150 animals daily against an established capacity of about 320.

Agriculture, Mechanisation and Water Resources Development Minister Dr Anxious Masuka toured the facility and described the work as progressing and timely.

He linked the revival to expected below-normal rainfall in the 2026/27 season associated with El Niño conditions, which are forecast to place particular stress on livestock in Matabeleland, Midlands and Masvingo provinces.

“Today we are touring CSC here in Bulawayo where they are resuscitating their biggest abattoir to a processing capacity of at least 800 beasts a day. The established capacity now is 320 although they are slaughtering about 150 a day. So they are well on their way to ensuring that this capacity is rebuilt and we thank Mutapa Investment Fund for having provided the US$9.3 million loan that has enabled them to get this stage,” Masuka said.

He urged farmers in the affected regions to channel animals through CSC facilities rather than resort to distress or panic sales as pastures and water sources come under pressure.

“The resuscitation is timely because of the expected below normal rainfall for the 2026/27 season, the Matabeleland region, Masvingo, Midlands will be under stress and many farmers will want to panic-sell their cattle. Our advice is they must bring them through the CSC facilities.”

Mutapa Investment Fund deputy chief investment officer Ernest Denhere said the fund took CSC out of corporate rescue at the beginning of October 2025 and has since funded capital improvements, including chillers and refrigerated facilities.

“When we took over this asset, there was really no activity here. We have upped the capacity at this Bulawayo facility, which is the flagship abattoir, to processing 320 cattle per day. The capacity, if we finish our works, is 800 cattle per day, but currently we are doing about 150 cattle per day. So we are largely on track and we have disbursed about US$9.3 million, and had to do a lot of capital improvements,” he said.

Denhere noted that CSC is also resuscitating its approximately 117,000-hectare ranches. The Willsgrove fattening facility is operational with capacity for 5,000 cattle. The company is seeking an additional US$10 million in working capital support for 2027, expected to be arranged through Mutapa linkages. Officials have also referred to a potential cattle financing facility of up to US$15 million as part of El Niño risk mitigation measures. Zimbabwe’s national herd is estimated at about six million head, the majority held in rural and communal areas.

CSC was once one of southern Africa’s leading beef processors and exporters. In the 1990s it held lucrative European Union quotas and generated tens of millions of dollars annually from exports.

Operations declined sharply from the early 2000s amid mounting debts, ageing infrastructure, governance problems, loss of skilled personnel and the suspension of key export markets following disease outbreaks.

The company struggled for years and entered corporate rescue proceedings in December 2020.

A 2019 joint-venture agreement with UK-based Boustead Beef had envisaged investment of roughly US$130 million to revive the business, clear debts and restore production. The arrangement did not deliver the expected capital; reports indicated only about US$24 million was injected.

The partnership was later terminated amid legal disputes. Mutapa Investment Fund subsequently settled most creditors (around US$9 million in reported payments) and facilitated the formal end of corporate rescue in mid-October 2025. Operational control returned to the company’s management and board.

Earlier updates in 2026 indicated slaughter numbers had risen from around 50 a day to roughly 120 after initial refurbishment work.

More recent figures place current throughput near 150 a day. Beyond slaughter, Mutapa has indicated interest in restoring wider value-chain activities, including wet-blue processing, canning and tanning, to capture more of the beef industry’s potential.

Officials have also pointed to the possible use of CSC’s cold-chain infrastructure for other agricultural commodities requiring temperature-controlled storage and transport.

A small-stock line focused on goats and sheep is already in place, with longer-term interest in poultry processing mentioned.

Masuka said the expectation is that the resuscitation can be accelerated so that CSC provides a credible market for communal farmers and eventually regains export presence in African, Middle Eastern and other markets.

Denhere described CSC as one of the more sustainable businesses under the Mutapa portfolio and said management capability remains a key focus, with plans for a capable management team to be announced.

The revival is framed by government and Mutapa officials as support for livestock marketing, drought preparedness and agricultural value addition.

Source:Hurumende News Hub