Tobacco industry mogul Simon Rudland is scheduled to officially launch a substantial US$120 million tobacco processing facility, Cut Rag Processors (CRP), on Wednesday in Harare’s Aspindale industrial area. The high-capacity plant is being hailed as a pivotal development in Zimbabwe’s national push to increase value addition within its lucrative tobacco sector.
The investment directly supports the government's ambitious Tobacco Transformation Plan, which targets transforming the industry into a US$5 billion value chain by 2025. This goal relies heavily on increasing local processing from the current minimal levels, as Zimbabwe presently exports approximately 98 percent of its tobacco in raw form.
Executives at CRP stated that the new, state-of-the-art facility is equipped with modern German and Italian processing technology and possesses an output capacity almost three times that of previous operations. This capacity expansion is intended to significantly reduce the country's reliance on raw-tobacco exports.
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"In terms of capacity, it’s almost triple what we had before. We intend to increase domestic output as well as cut-rag exports, because it gives value to the tobacco we produce locally," a CRP executive noted. They added that the new machinery has delivered notable "efficiency and quality improvements, which add value to the customer." The company is strategically targeting Asia, which was described as "one of the biggest markets globally," along with other international markets for its cut-rag product.
The CRP project is the latest addition to the extensive business interests of Rudland, 54, whose diversified Pioneer Corporation group spans agriculture, manufacturing, logistics, finance, and mining. The group’s companies collectively employ over 10,000 people across the Southern African region, with operations extending into markets like the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).
While Rudland’s commercial successes have earned him a reputation as one of the region's most active private sector investors, his career has also been marked by public scrutiny and criticism. Associates, however, argue that these allegations are fueled by business rivalries and misinformation. The businessman remains committed to what he describes as lawful operations, transparency, investment growth, and employment creation, positioning Africa as a market with "immense industrial potential."
Through his Gold Leaf Tobacco Corporation (GLTC), Rudland manufactures and distributes popular cigarette brands, including Rudland & George (R&G), which launched in 2015.
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