Govt should return title deeds to viable companies

This is the view of Henry Nemaire, deputy president of the Confederations Zimbabwe Industries (CZI). He called on government to seriously consider delisting such properties and returning the title deeds to the rightful owners.

In an interview last week, Nemaire said huge tracts of land were earmarked for compulsory acquisition, rendering the companies still on the land incapable of running their businesses properly.

“Government should restore full ownership of some rich agricultural land in Manicaland to its more productive former owners,” he said, adding that this would allow the agricultural firms to use the title deeds to access funds from financial institutions like the Eastern and Southern African Trade and Development Bank.

Companies whose land has been affected in this way include Border Timbers, the Wattle Company, Makandi and Tongaat Hullet. “They need the title deeds in order to borrow the huge sums required for recapitalisation to get their businesses running productively again,” said Nemaire.

He said the loans were also vital for re-tooling of local companies with modern machinery. “This is a key issue, as it would give the companies leverage to compete with other manufacturers in countries in regions such as Southern Africa, Europe and Asia,” he said.

“There is need for urgent re-tooling and acquiring of world class standard machinery. If you get modern technology that produce high quality products then you can compete with foreign markets.”

Nemaire’s call came as most local firms are failing to finance their operations in a business environment suffocating under the liquidity crunch.

Companies such as Karina, Border Timbers, Cairns Holdings, Quest Motors, Tanganda and the Wattle Company, which used to employ thousands, have either closed down or are operating well below capacity.

The land “reform” programme, hailed as a big success by the Zanu (PF) government, also impacted negatively on production at most occupied farms, including Makandi Estates and Kondozi which used to produce coffee and horticultural produce for the lucrative international market.

The major beneficiaries of the land programme were influential Zanu (PF) politicians who had no expertise in agriculture.

Chris Mushohwe, the Minister of State for Provincial Affairs in Manicaland, recently bemoaned the ongoing closure of companies in the province, saying locals were not benefitting from their natural resources.