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Tinashe Makichi Business Reporter
The Industrial Development Corporation of Zimbabwe has sold of its 51 percent stake in Almin Metal Industries to a local investor, Architectural Aluminium.

The other 49 percent stake is held by Hulamin Extrusions South Africa.

IDC Zimbabwe public relations advisor Dereck Sibanda confirmed the transaction saying this was in line with a Cabinet resolution made in November last year, which directed the state-owned enterprise to consider only industry players when disposing of its shareholding in various companies.

“The stake was taken up by a local industry player, Architectural Aluminium. The deal was concluded in this quarter and that means IDC South Africa through its subsidiary Hulamin will maintain its 49 percent stake in the company,” said Mr Sibanda.

The aluminium firm is strategic to Zimbabwe as most major building structures in the country’s major cities rely on its aluminium profiles.

In Harare, for instance, major buildings including the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, Karigamombe, Throgmorton, Trust Towers and Runhare House were built from aluminium profiles made by Almin Metal Industries.

Nonetheless, the range of the company’s products is wide from aluminium profiles used to construct heavy and light, commercial and domestic structures to cookware, industrial, irrigation and transport equipment as well as profiles for a range of architectural solutions.

Almin Metal Industries has capacity to produce 1 200 tonnes per year, but about 60 percent of the 500 tonnes the country is currently consuming annually is made up of imported products, although they are of inferior quality.

The company’s products have been crowded by imports and there were calls for Government to consider raising the tariff for aluminium products and encourage local procurement to cushion the firm.