Zimbabwe spends $1m on old tyres

Zimbabwe has imported second hand tyres worth more than $1 million during the past year.

National Tyre Services chief operating officer Tafadzwa Choto said between January 2012 and August 2013, $1 million worth of used tyres were imported.

Choto said most second hand tyres are imported from Europe mainly UK, South Africa and were being sold at about 33% of the price of a new tyre and looking more appealing to the pocket.

He said the difficulty and expense involved in disposal of used tyres for others and a business opportunity.

Choto said tyre re-treaders should be allowed to import used truck tyres for retreading under special import licences as these were a raw material while also introducing mandatory registration of all tyre dealers, who should abide by set standards.