Zimbabwe Shakes America's Dominance In The World Cigar Market

JAKARTA - In the world map, it is common for the cigar business to be present only in the Americas, especially Cuba. However, recently, a country in Africa, Zimbabwe has begun to enliven the cigar business, one of which is a cigar with the trademark Victoria Falls or which is locally called Mosi-Oa-Tunya, which is included in the competition list.

Mosi-Oa-Tunya, which is defined as a roll of thunder cloud, was the first company to make cigars in the South African country. According to Reuters, this effort is part of an effort to roll back the wheels of the economy which had previously been exacerbated by the COVID-19 outbreak.

This cigar business originally came from a Zimbabwean, Shep Mafundikwa, who has spent 15 years in the United States (US). Therefore, he felt that he had sufficient business knowledge, so Mafundikwa ventured back home to start a cigar business last year.

Not surprisingly, since March Mafundikwa has focused all of its female staff on intensive training in order to explore the art of rolling cigars by hand. Thanks to this training, each worker can produce 256 sequences per day. As a result, the cigars began to be enjoyed by countries outside Africa.

"Our cigars have been enjoyed in Romania, Vietnam and are starting to expand to Dubai," said Mafundikwa at his cigar factory.

This was considered reasonable by Mafundikwa, given that Zimbabwe has always been famous for its tobacco, which has been exported mainly to China and Europe. Not surprisingly, many global cigarette manufacturers are looking to Zimbabwean tobacco.

On that basis, Mafundikwa is confident that Mosi-Oa-Tunya can compete with the best cigars in the world, such as Habanos and Montecristo which are made in Cuba. "You know Zimbabwe is known for high quality tobacco, so that gave me the idea of making cigars."

Mafundikwa's dream is not grandiose, he just wants to develop the cigar market locally by making a brand that is affordable to many people. For that he recruited an experienced man in making cigars from the Dominican Republic, Elias Lopes.

The presence of Lopes, who has worked in Arturo Fuente and Davdoff's cigar business, is expected to give the spirit of the Zimbabwean cigar business to grow. So, business owners are increasingly confident to introduce their cigars to all corners of the world.