Source: How We Made It in Africa | by Kate Douglas | 12 June 2015
In 2012 Monica Musonda left her 15-year career as a successful commercial lawyer to return to her home country Zambia and set up a food processing company, Java Foods. The company supplies the market with the eeZee instant noodles brand.
“We grow the food, grow the raw material, actually create the food, and then have to import the packaging. So for me to compete with a product from Turkey, a product even from South Africa, is very difficult,”
According to Musonda one of the motives behind her decision to venture into food processing was based on how unexploited the sector is in the country.
However, she has learnt that the opportunity does not come without challenges.
Speaking at the World Economic Forum on Africa last week, she explained while there is food processing potential in Zambia, it is difficult for local producers to compete with cheap imports. “This is because as producers we are faced with a number of high costs.”