Freight industry ‘facing collapse’

tion of Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Joseph Musariri, told CAJ News last week that volumes had gone down drastically in the past months and the sector is operating at below 30%, mainly due to unavailability of foreign currency caused by the low exchange rate.
“Business is currently very low and most of our members are operating at below 30%, and official exchange is not favourable for foreign currency generation. Foreign currency is the backbone of freight industry and, with unavailability, it’s really a disaster,” said Musariri.
Musariri blamed Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor Gideon Gono. “The problem with the central bank governor is that after pegging the official exchange rate he does not make a follow up to find out how companies are performing under the exchange rate,” he said.
The freight industry mainly uses rail as the mode of transport and the malfunction of National Railways of Zimbabwe had also affected the industry, forcing it to using expensive road transport for both imports and exports.
The SFAAZ boss said another major challenge faced by the freight industry is fuel shortages, as this has led to the ceasation in cargo airline operation. “There is no cargo airline currently in place and it’s really affecting the smooth running of business.
“At the same time, we are expected to award workers better salaries when there is no increase in economic performance and costs are rising daily.
“There is really no growth in the industry because those operating are surviving by black market,” said Musariri. – CAJ News