eBusiness Weekly
Business Writer
Cyclone Idai has affected Manicaland’s agro-based industry thereby reducing the province’s export potential.
The most affected big players include Border Timbers, Wattle Company, Allied Timbers, Tanganda, Matanuska and Manica Boards and Doors as some of them could not access their companies or raw materials as the roads remain impassable.
Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries’ Manicaland chapter president, Remington Mpande, said: “Most companies in Chimanimani and Chipinge are currently not able to access their facilitation in terms of outcome and outgoing logistics. Some are still to resume operations a fortnight after the devastating cyclone.
“This has affected the export market as the bulk of the companies are agro-based that produce for that particular market. Other companies like Manica Boards and Doors that depend on raw materials from the affected areas, were not able to access timber. This slowed down all business operations. We are still quantifying the losses,” he said.
Mpande said the damage of the Beira Corridor also had negative effects on businesses in Manicaland.
“We depend so much on the Beira road and railway line and their closure affected operations. We are happy that the Beira Road has since been repaired, while activity is now up along Mutare and Chimoio railway line,” he said.
Mpande said as the business community, they were among the first to react to the national distress call to assist the affected communities.
“As the business community, we played our part by making contributions in cash and kind towards the relief programme. The timber companies were the first at the scene to clear roads. We will also play our part in the reconstruction process,” he said.
Besides major agro-businesses, the cyclone also made a huge dent on small businesses as most of them are feeling the brunt. They lost their wares and tools of the trade were damaged.
Many companies operating in the Eastern Highlands are into agro-products such as tea, avocados, macadamia, bananas, sugar cane, timber and in some cases tobacco. The cyclone has left massive destruction of public infrastructure such as roads and power pylons resulting in efforts to resume operations being stalled.
Meanwhile Zesa has started fixing the extensive damage inflicted on its power infrastructure by Cyclone Idai in Manicaland, but bringing hardest hit areas, such as Chimanimani, back on the grid might take a bit of time, group acting chief executive Patrick Chivaura has said.
In an interview on the sidelines of the 46th executive committee meeting of the Southern African Power Pool (SAPP) last Friday, Eng Chivaura said restoration of supplies had started in parts of Chipinge and Mutare.
However, he pointed out that the extent of devastation on the power infrastructure in Chimanimani would require significantly more time, as some equipment that include sub-stations had been uprooted by the tropical storm.
“We have total blackouts in Chimanimani; that was the worst affected area and then Mutare and Chipinge. We are already on the ground, correcting the distribution system, which has been affected, replacing the transformers. From my estimation, this week (last week) we might round up Chipinge, probably by the end of the week we should be up and running. Chimanimani might take a little longer because the extent of the damage is quite high,” he said.
Companies, mainly in agro-businesses in Manicaland have since appealed to Government for temporary relief measures such as duty free fuel after power supplies were disrupted.
The cut power supplies will force businesses to switch to generators to power their operations. The Confederation of Zimbabwe Industries says it will lobby for temporary suspension of duty on fuel to help keep businesses running.
