eBusiness Weekly
Tapiwanashe Mangwiro
Businessman and former Cabinet Minister, Simba Makoni, has stepped down as Powerspeed board chairman — a post he held for the past 13-years and has been replaced by another businessman of repute, Victor Gapare.
“Powerspeed Electrical Limited wishes to inform its shareholders that Dr Simba H. Makoni resigned from the board of directors of the company with effect from February 23, 2023. He had served the company since 2010,” the firm said in a statement to shareholders.
According to the company, during his tenure, he steered Powerspeed to become one of the leading businesses in its industry.
“His expertise and guidance over his tenure of chairmanship has been extremely valuable. We would like to thank Dr. Makoni for his dedication to Powerspeed over these years and wish him every success in his future endeavours,” the company added.
To replace such a noble and long serving chairman, the board voted in a man of high stature in Gapare to take over the stewardship of overseeing the interests of the company.
Powerspeed said: “The company also takes this opportunity to advise shareholders of the appointment of Mr Victor Gapare as the new chairman of the Board of Directors of Powerspeed with effect from February 23, 2023.”
Gapare is an executive director of Caledonia Mining Corporation, a gold mining firm listed on the New York Stock Exchange, AIM in London and the Victoria Falls Stock Exchange. Prior to that, he was the chief executive officer of Bilboes Holdings (Private) Limited, a gold mining and exploration company which was taken over by Caledonia on January 6, 2023.
The new board chairman worked for Anglo American Corporation Zimbabwe for 16 years and rose to the position of director for the gold and pyrites mining division before completing a management buyout of the gold and pyrites mining division from Anglo American Corporation in 2003.
He is a former president of the Chamber of Mines of Zimbabwe.
Gapare holds a Bachelor of Business Studies degree from the University of Zimbabwe and a Masters Degree in Business Leadership from the University of South Africa. Gapare is a director of African Century Limited, a Zimbabwean leasing company, Intrachem Limited, a manufacturer and supplier of mining explosives and chemicals in Zimbabwe.
In its recent first quarter trading update, Powerspeed said its trading recovered during the first quarter ending December 31, 2022 as compared to the previous quarter, which was not good.
In a trading update, the company said, “The group traded profitably resulting in an 8,7 percent growth in shareholders’ funds during the quarter.”
According to the company, inflationary pressures continued to push up the real costs of basic household expenses resulting in reduced disposable income and therefore less expenditure generally, including hardware products effectively shrinking the potential market.
“The resultant shrinking market has increased competitive pressures as we all fight for our share and inevitably means shrinking margins,” Powerspeed said.
The company acknowledged that controls limiting pricing ratios between ZWL and USD continue to make it expensive for customers with USD to purchase from formal retailers such as those owned by Power speed.
Powerspeed said; “This is a further incentive which is driving business from formal to informal trade, this is having a negative effect on all formal retailers, and we are no exception.”
Shortages of locally made products in general, but in particular cable, also had a negative impact on their business. Despite all these difficulties, trading volumes were up in the prior year and profitability was steady. In December 2022 Powerspeed opened its newest and biggest branch in Avondale in Harare and the throughput there has been pleasing.
“As always, we will continue to pursue new markets, expand our branch footprint, and develop our sourcing of products directly from the best manufacturers globally,” the update said.
Powerspeed said they are confident that the economic future of Zimbabwe is positive, given the anticipated investment in mining, steel production and agriculture amongst others. As a result, the company is very optimistic about their prospects for the future.
