Bata Shoe Company, Zimbabwe’s largest shoe manufacturer in light of the shortage of textile has been forced to import textile from Kenya. Bata managing director, Mr Ehsan Zaman said that they are not getting consistent supplies of textiles for their factory.

The Bata Shoe Company employ around 250 workers at their canvass factory. As the situation is very sensitive for them, the company have applied to Government for permission to import specific quantity and have received positive response.

But this development by Bata Shoe Company has pushed their cost of production up.

The poor cotton season, which saw the country managing to harvest about 30 000 tones of the white gold, the lowest since independence. The cotton industry value chain is facing a debilitating situation also the local textile sector remains subdued.

This has resulted in the country’s largest textile manufacturer Zimbabwe Spinners and Weavers downsizing its operations and failing to meet local demand for textiles.