ESWATINI – Kellogg Tolaram, a joint venture between American Kellogg Company and Singapore headquartered Tolaram Group, has officially inaugurated an instant noodles processing facility in the Kingdom of Eswatini.
The state of art Kellogg Tolaram Eswatini Factory was commissioned by His Majesty The King Mswati III, accompanied by the kingdom’s Prime Minister, government ministers, members of the diplomatic corps, and the business community.
Its establishment follows a public-private partnership entered between the Kingdom of Eswatini and the food processing company in 2019, focused on manufacture of food products for the local and foreign markets.
Speaking during the event, His Majesty the King praised the Kellogg Tolaram team who made the project a success, despite being met by a myriad of challenges catalysed by the COVID-19 outbreak.
“I would like to applaud the commitments of our Kellogg Tolaram team as well as the team on the ground for ensuring that this project takes.
“Indeed, we are here today as a result of the cooperation of these two parties – we are indeed very grateful for your work,” said His Majesty King Mswati III.
The King further revealed that Kellogg Tolaram invested a total of E210 million (US$13.2m) into the business that commence production in February 2021, while the government constructed the factory shell at a cost of E200 million (US$12.6m), reports Press Reader.
“The country will always continue to engage on the mobilization of foreign direct investment; hence we are excited when companies such as Kellogg Tolaram are providing job opportunities for our people.
“Since economies around the globe have been impacted negatively by the Covid-19 pandemic and other economic shocks, the Kingdom is pursuing the implementation of the economic recovery plan (ERP),” remarked His Majesty King Mswati III.
The new noodles production facility will enable better market access and accelerate noodles market penetration into the Africa continent as the Kingdom of Eswatini, is a member of SACU, SADC, and COMESA trading zones.
This combined with the benefits offered by the country’s intent to drive economic growth, including various tax benefits, made an investment in the Kingdom of Eswatini attractive for Kellogg Tolaram.
“Our noodles plant in eSwatini represents a critical milestone in Kellogg’s ambitious journey in expanding our portfolio as well as our geographic footprint across the African Continent.
“The project’s benefits go beyond the commercial agenda, the development of local suppliers and enterprises, skills and capabilities development as well as improvements in the community,” said Gerald Mahinda, Managing Director, Sub Saharan Africa, Middle East, North Africa and Turkey.
The project is at its infancy stage with expansion plans underway including investment in more lines in the near future to include breakfast cereals and snacks which Kellogg Tolaram is synonymous with.
This investment continues Kellogg Tolaram’s aggressive expansion journey of its range of foods and geographic footprint across the African continent.
In 2015, the company entered into a joint venture with Tolaram Nigeria Limited for just under US$ 1billion, Kellogg’s biggest investment to date outside of the United States of America. The JV also has noodles manufacturing capability in Egypt.
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