Africa-Press – Botswana. Local cooking oil manufacturers have backed government plans of conducting a study with an objective to find out if importation of cooking oil should be restricted.
Currently the demand for cooking oil is estimated to be 3 million litres monthly but local manufacturers cannot meet the demand.
The Managing Director of Arona cooking oil Fannie Gwizi told that a ban on importation of cooking oil will be a noble gesture as this will force local players to increase their capacity.
He stated that this will also trickle down to local farmers who have been reluctant to plough sunflower due to the unavailability of market.
“The fact that government is considering closing the border simply means that it will also reduce the country’s food import bill and on top of that creating further employment,” said Gwizi.
Gwizi highlighted that this will also help government reach its long standing ambition of achieving self-sufficiency across the Agricultural sector.
“The other thing that we should bear in mind is that when borders are closed, local manufacturing capacity will be increased because local manufacturers of cooking oil will now be motivated to invest in production capacity so that more can be supplied to the local consumers,” added Gwizi.
He said an engagement with government to discuss and see how far other producers can go in terms of manufacturing cooking oil is also critical in order to guide government on whether or not the restriction should be fully implemented or done in phases.
“Everything has its own start and we believe that with a proper assessment then definitely we can be self-sufficient at some point and people should take a leaf from the restriction of flour products because currently there is an oversupply,” said Gwizi.
He also said retailers have been supportive even though some still prefer to channel their monies to South African manufacturers.
For his part Solomon Moyo of Lupro refined sunflower oil based in Mahalapye said even though there is no enough local capacity to produce and meet the demand, there is a lot that can be done to achieve self-sufficiency.
He stated that farmers should be empowered first to plough sunflower and sell to local retailers.
“Farmers are still struggling to plough sunflower and I believe that government should set aside a chunk of land dedicated towards plantation of sunflower so that we can achieve self-sufficiency,” said Moyo.
He highlighted that closing down borders immediately without due care will cause a serious shortage of cooking oil.
“My plant can only manage 30 000 litres a month against a national demand of 3 million litres and my understanding is that there are only 2 oil producers locally,” he said.
Moyo also said despite this, he remains supportive of ensuring that local brands are given enough support before finding its feet outside the country.
Recently government announced that cooking oil will no longer be VAT exempt.
As previously reported, the temporary VAT rate reduction was introduced for a period of 6 months beginning 3 August 2022 to help mitigate the impact of inflation. A temporary VAT zero rate for cooking oil and liquid petroleum gas was also provided, but this has not been extended.
For More News And Analysis About Botswana Follow Africa-Press
