Saudi business Menafea Holding has announced plans to build a 5,000 hectare pineapple farm in Zambia's North-West province this year, reported Daily-mail.co.zm.

The US$125 million project will also include the construction of 2,000 housing units for workers in the country's capital Lusaka, along with a juice factory, the story reported.

Menefea board member Khaled Alrajhi said the agreement had been signed with Zambia's investment promotion agency, the Daily Mail reported.

"We have been granted 5,000 hectares of land to grow pineapples using the latest technology and are going to put up a factory to produce juice for local consumption as well as export," he was quoted as saying.

The story reported that last December Zambia's Finance Minister Situmbeko Musokotwane was encouraging Gulf countries to invest in Zambia's agricultural sector, dismissing claims that foreign investment was a form of 'colonialism'.

Photo: Flickr, ECohen

Source: www.freshfruitportal.com