Zimbabwean car manufacture to set up shop at Willowvale

Since 2007 Mureza Automotive Company CEO has had one dream and one dream only and that is to manufacture Africa's first ever wholly African vehicle in terms of components,factory siting,employees and the target market.Having faced some kickback from the initial research days to sourcing for components and creating a value chain of said components Mr Mungofa finally got his company off the ground in 2016.

The Zimbabwean born torque addict partnered with Ms Pheladi Chiloane and Miss Thulisa Sosibo to set up the tech startup and a base of operations in South Africa.They roped in Iranian company SAIPA for technical support which elicited rumours of the company being a front...rumours Mureza quickly dispelled by revealing how 40% of the components making up their cars were African.They also pointed out that ownership was in the hands of the three African cofounders while factories and employees would for the most part be African as well.

With their flagship car the Mureza Prim8 hitting the market in the first quarter of 2021 Mr Tatenda Mungofa has announced plans to set up a base in his native Zimbabwe as well as Botswana and Namibia.For the Zimbabwean initiative Mureza has partnered with Willowvale Plant for production of a car describe as modern yet suited to the Zimbabwean terrain potholes and all.Initially Mureza is looking to manufacture 35 cars a day which is Willowvale's capacity.Beyond that Mr Mungofa says he plans to set up a dealership network to get as many cars to as many people in the quickest time possible.

The South African model is priced at just a little over 190 000 rands and the Zimbabwean price is likely to be in that range.With the banning of Ex Jap imports over ten years,taxes and the now mandatory radiation test and sanitization Mureza might just be the cheaper homegrown  alternative Zimbabwe needs.