The official opening of the US$120 million Cut Rag Processors (CRP) plant in Willowvale, Harare, by His Excellency President Emmerson Mnangagwa on November 19, 2025, marked a significant milestone in Zimbabwe’s industrial resurgence. While the focus is often on the state-of-the-art machinery and the facility’s role in enhancing value addition and positioning Zimbabwe to increase exports of high-value finished tobacco products, the physical integrity and world-class structure housing this massive operation is a story of local construction expertise and advanced building technology. At the heart of this foundational work was RADX Construction, the company responsible for the complex brickwork and related civil engineering components of the mammoth project.
Blending scale with precision
The new CRP facility, located on Green Trees Road, is one of Zimbabwe’s most eminent structural developments, blending modern industrial architecture with absolute operational efficiency. The structure is characterized by a large, modern exterior of white and dark grey industrial cladding, showcasing a high-tech facility. The design’s primary objective was to facilitate the linear,
highly technical process of converting raw tobacco into blended cut rag, ready for cigarette manufacturing. The internal layout features multiple lines of heavy-duty processing equipment stretching into the background requiring vast, high-bay spaces.
The main factory bays, some reaching heights of about 16 meters, necessitated advanced structural engineering, including two sets of ring beams for stability. The impressive structure boasts a modern design, blendin functionality with aesthetic appeal.
RADX’s phase-by-phase delivery
RADX Construction executed the project in distinct phases, beginning in October 2022, facing challenges like the rainy season and material imports, but ultimately completing the work and handing over the facility a year prior to the official opening. The technical process, critical for supporting the massive investment in heavy processing equipment, was methodical. Due to the specific ground conditions at the site, the project began with an extensive piling process to ensure long-term stability. This was followed by the construction of ground beams and comprehensive foundation works as part of the substructure. Once the foundation was secure, the superstructure phase commenced, with concrete columns being raised and the building constructed up to the roof level. Between these columns, RADX worked on the structural walls.
Measurements and scale:
The sheer scale of the CRP plant underscores its importance as Africa’s largest tobacco processing operation. The facility is located in Lochinvar, Harare. The dimensions provided by RADX paint a picture of a colossal industrial complex:
• Total Land Area: The size of the land is about 6 hectares.
• Built Area (Under Roof): The total floor space built by the contractors spans 40,000 square meters (4 hectares) under roof, running from phase one up to phase four, excluding parking areas and
the driveway.
• Parking and Driveways: The supporting infrastructure includes a parking area. RADX also did the driveways and parking areas.
Technology and innovation
To match the high-tech nature of the client’s plant machinery (which was imported from Brazil and Italy), RADX embraced modern construction technologies. The company deployed advanced methods, particularly for the vast internal floor slabs, which needed to be perfectly level and incredibly durable. RADX is now using self-levelling technology for the slabs. This involves setting GPS levels so the self levelling machine can level the concrete 100%. Furthermore, for floor finishing, the company moved away from manual “hand-driven” power floaters and adopted drive-on
polishing machines.
This drive-on technology significantly boosted efficiency and reduced the required labour for floor work by approximately 75%. Logistics and personnel The execution of this massive project required the seamless coordination of extensive local expertise and resources. At the peak of construction, the workforce reached 560 people, including the team from the main contractor, RADX,
alongside numerous specialized subcontractors.
To ensure the structural integrity and quality of the build, major materials were sourced from top-tier local suppliers:
Tiger Bricks provided the masonry units, Diamond Cement supplied the cement, and Scribante served as the primary concrete provider, while the specialized pavers were sourced from Homestyle.
Managing this diverse array of contributors, RADX oversaw several key subcontractors to bring the various phases to life. L. Electron was responsible for the electrical installations, while Pat Dun handled the steel structure and sheeting for the first two phases. Brown Engineering then took over to deliver the steel structure and sheeting for phases three and four, and R Davis managed the bulk earthworks, driveways, and parking bay construction. The CRP plant is a fusion of international machinery and local construction prowess. RADX Construction delivered a technically sophisticated, large-scale, and modern industrial structure that forms the bedrock of Zimbabwe’s latest push for value addition in the crucial tobacco sector.
