The ManicaPost
Rumbidzayi Zinyuke Senior Reporter
Industries in Manicaland have welcomed the move by Government to liberalise the importation of fuel which is meant to augment supply gaps in the market.
Government on Tuesday gave big companies with free funds the green light to import fuel for their own consumption.
Most companies in the province have faced challenges in procuring fuel for transporting their products and they say Government’s intervention will go a long way to reduce operating costs that were associated with fuel costs and shortages.
During a tour of industries in Mutare by Minister of Industry and Commerce Mangaliso Ndlovu last year, Tanganda Tea company raised concern over the shortage of fuel and power outages which the company said was affecting their operations.
Tanganda produces high quality tea for the local and export market with 75 percent of their products targeted at foreign markets.
Other companies including Mutare Bottling Company, Wattle company and Allied Timbers,to mention a few, have also not been spared.
Mutare Bottling Company managing director Mr Allan Lang said the move by Government to allow companies with free funds to bring in fuel for their own consumption would help restore normal supply of fuel to the market.
“I believe that it will help. Although we ourselves do not have free funds, it will enable those that do to bring in fuel, which will make it more freely available and hopefully bring the supply side of fuel back to normal,” he said.
He said MBC has had to dramatically cut back on long distance deliveries
into rural markets in order to conserve fuel.This had resulted in customers using their own transport to collect product from MBC.
“If this happens (liberalisation of fuel imports), and depending on the price of fuel, we will be able to reintroduce the intensive distribution service that has been the foundation of the Coca-Cola business over the years,” Mr Lang added.
Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce vice president Mr Kenneth Saruchera also hailed the move by Government and said it would enable companies to be innovative in coming up with solutions to the challenges they were faced with.
“We believe that this direction will impact positively on the ease of doing business. Because businesses will be free to make decisions and plan to resolve challenges they face,” he said.
The ZNCC vice president said there had been constraints with Government control of imports and the liberalisation of the same would remove the constraints and leave companies with space to manoeuvre for their own growth as well as that of the economy.
Mr Saruchera said it was now imperative for companies to be innovative to come up with ways to generate foreign currency to buy fuel.
“All along, we have been looking at Government to supply us with forex for importing fuel but now the ball is in our court. It is important for companies to strategise and come up with sustainable ways of generating the forex needed to have a consistent supply of fuel,” he added.
“We have been calling for flexibility and asking Government to engage us for ideas on how we can improve the economy. Now is the time to implement those ideas and make sure we revive industries and the Zimbabwean economy.”
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries member of the national council Mr Henry Nemaire said the move by Government would go a long way to improve the situation most companies have found themselves in.
“The liberalisation of fuel imports will help us as industries because there will be more fuel coming into the country. It is a good move that we believe will go a long way to improve the ease of doing business,” he said.
Mr Nemaire said individual companies might decide to continue bringing in fuel through fuel companies to ensure smooth processes.
The market is currently plagued by intermittent stock-outs, which are negatively affecting individual consumers and businesses.
In 2015, Statutory Instrument (SI) 171 was amended to allow members of the public to import up to 2 000 litres of fuel per month for personal use.
However, the legal instrument was repealed two years later through SI 122 of 2017, which stipulated that only companies licensed in terms of Section 29 of the Petroleum Act were allowed to import fuel.
