AFRICAN TRUTH – Rhodesia was producing radios, TV sets under WRS IP in Bulawayo
Rhodesia was producing radios, TV sets under WRS IP in Bulawayo. Guy Georgias was producing truck trailers called Italian Coach builders. David Whitehead was producing material, clothes and blankets. National Blankets was producing blankets and jerseys in Byo. Rhodesia had heavy industries based mainly on Bulawayo, Gwelo and the Great Dyke towns of Kwekwe, Gatooma, Sinoia as they were called then.
Rhodesia Light Infantry which controlled Rhodesia Defence Industires produced grenades, mortars, bullets and scatter bombs. Armoured vehicles were manufactured in Rhodesia, under Paramount licence.
Peugot, Citroen, Mazda, Nissan assembled cars in Mutare and Harare. African CoachBuilders built bud frames and assembled buses in the country. DAF assembled buses in the country.
Rhodesia Railways had the biggest machining and repair facility in the country. Rhodesia had the most sophisticated railway network outside SA. Dabuka signaling and marshalling Yards were opened in 1982 as the most sophisticated on the continent.
What was the centre of all this were the capital markets that were the most advanced outside South Africa.
Julias Nyerere famously told Mugabe that he inherited a gem and that he must NOT destroy it. You may have been too young to enjoy the golden era of our generation between 1980-1990.
Dairiboard, Lylons Maid made ice cream, UHT milk, cheese and other dairy products. We made tobacco products because were the biggest producer of tobacco in the world.
RSR made all the sugar required in the country and exported to the rest of Central Africa. National Foods made flour, mealie meal and a host of grains from local produce.
Anglo American Corporation ran huge enterprises from smelters to mines. Risco Steel produced all the mild steel and specialized steel sections for the mining, construction and manufacturing industry, the rest came from Iscor. Rhodesia produced ethanol before any other country on the continent. Small volumes but enough to project into a big industry post-independence.
And we exported maize to the world. Arenel, Lobels, Charhons, Schweppes, were huge factories exporting to Zambia, Malawi, Botswana, Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
Delta Corporation was the largest listed enterprise on the RSE. Anglo American was not listed.
Bata Shoe Company exported shoes back to parent company in Canada.
CSC exported beef to the European countries. ESC manufactured transformers, sun stations and base equipment. The mining industry bought equipment made during sanctions in Rhodesia.
Hendricks Chibuku Breweries was a grand enterprise spanning entire country, sponsoring soccer and athletics. Employing thousands of people nationwide.
Rhodesia Broadcasting Corporation employed over 5 000 people in studios at Pockets Hill, Montrose studios. The Reserve Bank was a huge employer, minting coins and printing notes that actually bought something. By 1985 UZ took 10 000 students and employed thousands of well-paid staff. All this came from the genesis of a small UR which took 1500 students a year.
You can take a master class on what Rhodesia produced and ofcourse it was white controlled and owned.
Guy Georgias was black, vana Mushandira Pamwe Hotels were massive enterprises. Job Kadengu ran night clubs, Sam Gozo was making tires in competition with Dunlop tires. AD Mpepu, Matambanadzo Motors, P Hall & Co, Ruredzo Motors, all ran bus companies that had over 200 buses each at the time.
By Anonymous