LUSAKA, ZAMBIA – Zambeef’s Zamshu shoe division is using its stitching expertise to make thousands of face masks to help protect people from the COVID-19 disease.
The company has bought more than K100,000 of fabric and is aiming to make 25,000 protective masks over the next eight weeks.

“COVID-19 has affected all sectors of our society; businesses, institutions and individuals alike, and it will take concerted efforts to put a stop to it. For us at Zamshu, this is both a social and a business decision as we aim to ensure the general public has access to quality manufactured re-usable cotton facemasks but also ensure continuity and relevance of business as the leather sector continues to innovate and reinvent itself,” said Zamshu General Manager Richard Franklin.

Some 50 Zamshu staff are working on the project, making around 500-800 masks per day in support of the government’s guidance that people should wear face masks in public to minimise the spread of the virus.

Initial batches will be given the Zambeef frontline staff, who will need 2-3 each to ensure they are regularly changed and washed. The company has also already received orders from various other institutions.

Thereafter, masks will be distributed through Zambeef retail outlets countrywide, making them accessible to the general population.

Zamshu continues to operate the country’s largest operating tannery, with subdivisions that produce protective clothing and safety boots, school and sports shoes, including the famous Kaleza football boots, and wet blue hides and finished leather material that can be used for upholstery.

“We are hopeful that the COVID-19 situation will soon be over as everyone gets involved and do their part to stop it in its tracks. The masks are one way that we at Zamshu are supporting those efforts,” added Mr Franklin.

Zamshu staff making facemasks to help protect against COVID-19.	Zamshu staff making facemasks to help protect against COVID-19.
Zamshu staff making facemasks to help protect against COVID-19.

About Zambeef Products Plc
Zambeef Products Plc is the largest integrated cold chain food products and agribusiness company in Zambia and one of the largest in the region, involved in the primary production, processing, distribution and retailing of beef, chicken, pork, milk, eggs, dairy products, fish, flour and stockfeed, throughout Zambia and the surrounding region, as well as Nigeria and Ghana.

It has 228 retail outlets throughout Zambia and West Africa.

The company is one of the largest suppliers of beef in Zambia. Five beef abattoirs and three feedlots located throughout Zambia, with a capacity to slaughter 230,000 cattle a year. It is also one of the largest chicken and egg producers in Zambia, with a capacity of 8.8m broilers and 22.4 million day-old chicks a year.

It is one of the largest piggeries, pig abattoirs and pork processing plants in Zambia, with a capacity to slaughter 75,000 pigs a year, while its dairy has a capacity of 120,000 litres per day.

The Group is also one of the largest cereal row cropping operations in Zambia, with approximately 7,973 hectares of row crops under irrigation, which are planted twice a year, and a further 8,776 hectares of rainfed/dry-land crops available for planting each year.

Zambeef employs over 7,400 people with a total wage bill of K38 million per month.