Re-opening of Mulungushi Textiles in Kabwe deferred as the concessionaire Mohammed Enterprises Tanzania Limited (MeTL) Tanzania’s largest home-grown company, worth more than US$1 billion has requested for some waivers from Government before operations at the Kabwe factory could start.

The Government is looking at the demands by (MeTL). The Deputy Minister of Defence Christopher Mulenga said that the Ministry of Defence, which owns the Zambia-China Mulungushi Textiles Joint Venture, is consulting the Ministry of Finance regarding the demands by MeTL, said in Lusaka on Monday.

The Mulungushi Textiles is still owned by Zambia and China. The two sat down and leased the textile together with the equipment to the developer who wanted to start operating it, Mr Mulenga said. There are only a few things remaining to operationalize the factory.

Among other demands, MeTL Group chairperson Gulam Dewji is reportedly requesting for the banning of the importation of chitenge materials even before the firm starts operating. Mr Mulenga said that they want to sort out a few issues with the developer [Mr Dewji].

On July 30 last year, ZCMT-JV board vice-chairperson Rosemary Salukatula and Mr Dewji signed a 12-year lease agreement.

MeTL Group will invest an initial US$10 million into the textile company and create about 2,000 jobs. ZCMT-JV ceased operations in 2007 due to operational challenges.

MeTL Group has presence in 11 countries in Africa, namely Uganda, Ethiopia, Kenya, South Sudan, Rwanda, Burundi, Zambia, Mozambique, Malawi, DR Congo and Tanzania.