eBusiness Weekly
Fradreck Gorwe
Zimbabwe’s leading producer and exporter of personal care brands, hygiene and value added agro products — United Refineries Limited (URL) — has welcomed new cash injection into the economy saying it’s a positive move solving shortages that threatened business sustainability.
The exporting entity is optimistic the development is expected to reduce time spent by customers in bank queues as well as improve consumer spending to the benefit of businesses.
A number of companies have been blaming low sales volumes on low disposable incomes and constrained cash supply side.
Said URL chief executive officer, Busisa Moyo; “We had a shortage of cash since 2015, which in spite of the 40 to 50 percent mobile money penetration, complicated the consumer’s ability to readily buy essential commodities. This somewhat depressed demand side activity.
“Time was also being spent in queues for cash by the consuming public, which time could be better spent making wise purchase and investment decisions.”
Meanwhile, URL is upbeat on plans to become a publicly traded company and progress towards the status is underway.
Listing of the company on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange will be pursuant to the completion of an initial public offering (IPO) earmarked for the end of 2021 or early 2022 according to the chief executive officer.
An initial public offering (IPO) refers to the process of offering shares of a private entity to the public in a new stock issuance. This allows a company to raise capital from public investors.
The transition from a private to a public company can be an important time for private investors to fully realise gains from their investment and so URL will be poised for tremendous growth.
The company is also upbeat on export growth banking on present funding support from local banks and incentives by Government.
“We are proceeding with plans to expand our business to grow exports, penetrate the region, consolidate our brand position and complete an IPO at the end of 2021 or early 2022.
“We have had breakthroughs in value chain support to increase raw material support through our banks,” said Moyo.
He further suggested the removal of raw material imports from a permit system to a half yearly return system to improve the ease and cost of exports.
The exporter, he said, must be supported to grow exports.
