Gold Leaf arrives in Zimbabwe

The South African-based cigarette manufacturer, Gold Leaf Tobacco, is planning to set up a cigarette plant in Zimbabwe, according to a story in The Herald.

Gold Leaf launched its RG brand in Zimbabwe on Wednesday as part of a broader objective of expanding further into the region.

The company’s representative Tanaka Matimbe told The Herald Business that it saw a lot of opportunities in the Zimbabwean market in spite of the presence of established brands.

“Following the launch of our brand in Zimbabwe, I can safely say we are looking at setting up a manufacturing plant in Zimbabwe, but it’s still in the planning phases,” he said.

“We see great potential in Harare because it is central to our bigger market which is the Southern African Development Community region, which we have been looking at getting into. So we have plans to be a manufacturing concern in Zimbabwe.”

Matimbe said Gold Leaf saw itself as becoming a major player in the region in the near future. The company, which had been in existence for the past 16 years, was looking at registering a footprint in Zambia, Malawi and Mozambique.

RG is offered in three versions: RG Toasted, RG Menthol and RG Blue.

So far, Matimbe said, the company had not sold much in Zimbabwe. It had brought in two containers and was hoping to continue to bring in at least two containers a month until the end of the year.