New factory for Zambia

Imperial African Tobacco Limited (IATCO) has announced that next year it will build a $150 million tobacco factory in the Chipata District of Zambia’s Eastern Province, according to a story in The Lusaka Times.

IATCO’s chairman, David Ngoma, said in a statement issued yesterday to the Zambia News and Information Service that the company would manufacture cigarettes mainly for export markets.

The Chipata District had been chosen for the construction of the plant because Malawi and Mozambique would be its target markets.

Ngoma said the tobacco industry had drifted from high-income to low-income countries, giving an advantage to tobacco producing countries in the developing world, particularly in Africa.