Lake Harvest gets US $8m to expand tilapia production

The African Development Bank has advanced a US $8 million to Lake Harvest, one of the largest tilapia producers in sub-Saharan Africa.

The loan is intended to help the company, which has cage farms on both Lake Kariba and Lake Victoria, to increase production levels from around 2,500 tonnes per year to 20,000 tonnes.

“With Europe absorbing 13 percent of the output, and with some 50 percent exported to Southern Africa, the project brings several strategic and cost-competitive outcomes: economic growth, regional integration, international trade and better food security in Zimbabwe and neighbouring countries,” the bank said in a statement.

“As Aquaculture Zimbabwe, we expect the contribution towards the country’s Gross Domestic Product to become significant,”