Deputy Minister Mabuwa
Munyaradzi Musiiwa Midlands Correspondent
Government has availed $27 million for the recapitalisation CAPS Pharmaceuticals (Pvt) Ltd which has been facing financial constraints since the introduction of the multi-currency regime in 2009, Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Mabuwa has said.
Speaking during a tour of manufacturing firms in Gweru, Deputy Minister Mabuwa said the Ministry of Finance and Economic Development had availed funds to revive the pharmaceutical giant.
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“Government, through the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe, has availed $27 million to the pharmaceutical sector, for the recapitalisation of CAPS,” she said.
The deputy minister said Government was in the process of resuming the $100 million credit facility made available by the African Import and Export Bank and Government in 2014 to assist ailing industries.
“Zimbabwe’s Economic and Trade Revival Facility (ZETREF) is a $100 million three-year credit facility made available by the African Import and Export Bank and Government, which contributed $70 million and $30 million respectively.
“Work is in progress to resume the facility with rates that are better than the ones being offered by local financial institutions.”
Deputy Minister Mabuwa said most firms that benefited from the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund had failed to pay back the loans, forcing Government to engage judicial managers.
“The ministry has also facilitated the availing of $20 million under the Distressed and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) since 2010. The amount that was available for lending last year was $4.6 million.
“The main drawback has been the failure to pay back by companies that accessed loans under Dimaf. However, to that end we have scaled up a situation where we provide judicial managers to help the companies and ensure they pay back the debt. We are going to ensure that companies get experts who assist them.”
She said her ministry had also organised a delegation to brief Japanese companies on business opportunities here.
“As I stand here, next week I will be leading a business delegation to Japan to follow up on His Excellency President Mugabe’s recent visit to the Asian country for a business interaction.
“SADC countries will be interacting with over 300 Japanese companies in Tokyo. We are also taking our delegation there to be able to interact and invite investment.
“We are going to have a special side meeting where we are going to showcase opportunities that exist in Zimbabwe,” she said.