Raiply Malawi commissions $1m briquette plant in Mzimba

Raiply Malawi Limited has commissioned a $1million briquette-making factory to conserve forest at Chikangawa in Mzimba district.

Chief Executive Officer (CEO) for Raiply, Khrishna Das, said on Friday in Mzimba that the company’s idea to create a briquette plant comes after realizing the value of a tree.

“We realized that the value of a tree is just not in the form of timber or firewood and charcoal. We are turning what was waste into briquettes to bring maximum benefits,” he said.

At a time when Malawi is losing 659, 000 hectares of its forest per annum to cooking fuel, he said, Raiply has come up with the intervention to conserve the forest.

He added that through the plant, the company has created more than 60 percent additional direct jobs.

The company also recognise that after the product there will be hundreds more additional jobs created in various urban locations which will be outlets of the product, he said.

However, he said, the factory has a capacity to produce 60 metric tonnes of briquettes per day.

The Minister of Forestry and Natural Resources, Nancy Tembo, commended the company for supporting government efforts of conserving forests through the mass production of briquettes as an alternative energy source.

“The briquettes made of saw dust which come in different sizes and costs burn as good as charcoal when used for cooking,” she said.

The minister added that it is good to note that the plant is also contributing to the Job Creation Agenda.

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