•Pierluigi Pettinari, the general manager of Italy’s construction firm, Schnell Group, explains to a client various products that the group manufactures and distributes during the Zambia International Property Expo held in Lusaka last week. Picture by KENNEDY MUPESENI.
By KENNEDY MUPESENI? –
AN Italian building company, Schnell Group is planning to set up an assembly plant in Zambia to manufacture various building implements in view of a boom in the construction sector.
Schnell Group is a multi-national global leader in the field of automatic machines for processing steel for use in reinforced concrete construction.
General manager Pierluigi Pettinari said his company was exploring marketing opportunities in Zambia and that the creation of the plant would add value to the economy through job creation and investment.
“Our company manufactures various machines, starting from wire coils and polystyrene blocks, produce a sandwich panel consisting of a core of polystyrene and two welded mesh mats.
We are currently exploring the market potential in Zambia and ultimately set up a plant here,” Mr Pettinari said.
He said in an interview at the company’s stand at the just ended Zambia International Property Expo held at the Government Complex that his company wanted to take advantage of the booming construction sector in Zambia.
With the introduction of building panels on the Zambian market, Mr Pettinari projected that it would change the construction industry in the country.
He said the use of panel walls in the construction of residential and commercial building was more affordable compared to the traditional use of building materials.
Within eight hours the automatic machines were capable of producing panels to construct about five houses.
The assembly plant in Zambia would be able to supply both local and regional customers looking at the central location of the country as well as connections with trade blocs such as the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and the Southern Africa Development Community (SADC).
The group was currently operating in Ghana and Nigeria among other African countries where it had assembling plants.
