Three companies from the United Republic of Tanzania have received grants to manufacture COVID-19 related Medical and Pharmaceutical Products (CMPP) under the Joint Action Support towards Industrialisation and the Productive Sectors (SIPS) in the Southern African Development Community (SADC) Region.
The three companies are Tindwa Medical and Health Services Limited (TMHS), Tridea Cosmetics Ltd Company (Tridea), and Harsho Packaging Company Limited (Harsho), which each received a grant of €100,000.
TMHS will use the grant to increase the production of high quality surgical and N95 masks in Tanzania. TMHS aims to produce high quality yet affordable surgical face masks for the general population of Tanzania and eventually for the SADC Region. This will bolster the fight against the COVID-19 pandemic, boost the local economy, decrease dependence on imports, and increase regional trade.
Tridea will increase the production of hand sanitisers, disinfectants and antibacterial hand washes, while Harsho will increase its production capacity and produce between 60,000 to 80,000 surgical masks per day to meet the local demand.
The Joint Action SIPS assists the SADC Region’s industrialisation and regional integration agenda. Under the SIPS, 14 companies from across the SADC Region have received support to strengthen the development of regional value chains in the CMPPs. SIPS is co-funded by the European Union (EU) and the Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development to the tune of €18 million
TMHS provides emergency care and occupational health care services in Tanzania and East Africa. After the global outbreak of the COVID-19 in the first quarter of 2020, TMHS quickly responded to the situation by producing simple cloth masks to prevent the spread of the disease. With the aid of the grant, the company diversified into the production of surgical and N95 masks to meet increased local market demand.
The SIPS grant will provide new machinery to increase the daily production capacity to about 100,000 surgical face masks and 60,000 N95 masks.
TMHS will target the local market primarily with plans to export to Zambia, DRC, Burundi, Malawi and Rwanda. TMHS anticipates the project will help create 12 additional, permanent jobs that will be added to the current workforce. The project is in line with the SADC Industrialisation Strategy and Roadmap.
Tridea swiftly responded by repurposing its personal care products manufacturing facility to produce hand-sanitisers and antibacterial liquid handwash, products that were completely new to Tridea’s core business.
Tridea has since acquired licensing to manufacture hand sanitisers, cleaning products, and antibacterial liquid handwash. The SIPS grant will support the creation of a new production line of disinfectants and sanitisers.
Tridea anticipates that the support from the Joint Action SIPS will result in creation of 20 new full-time jobs, and 60-70% of these new jobs will be allocated to women. Increased production capacity will enable exports to Kenya, Malawi, and Uganda.
The Joint Action SIPS will support Harsho to increase production capacity and produce up to 60,000 to 80,000 surgical masks per day to meet the local demand.
Harsho will produce three types of face masks that offer different degrees of protection to the wearer. The two-ply face mask is used for hygiene purposes, the standard three-ply face mask used in medical settings and the four-ply face mask with an activated carbon layer which further enhances the user’s protection.
As a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, Harsho extended its core business to the production of essential PPE such as face shields, non-woven apron, shoe covers, laminated non-woven medical scrubs and coveralls.
Furthermore, Harsho intends to locally source raw materials where possible. This will further decrease the dependence on imports and support the local textile industry. Harsho will use the grant to purchase and install new machinery. The company has identified a partner to support procurement and commissioning of equipment and train its technical team.
Harsho will further build national and regional industrial capacity as it intends to trade with neighbouring countries and SADC Member States. Moreover, public programmes aimed at curbing COVID-19 transmission through “Mask-up” campaigns will be strengthened.
