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Business Reporter
THE Distressed Industries and Marginalised Areas Fund (Dimaf) has gone a long way in helping firms to recover.
Dimaf was launched in October 2011 under a $40 million facility in which the government availed $10 million with the remainder coming from Old Mutual through its subsidiary, CABS.
Industry and Commerce Deputy Minister Chiratidzo Iris Mabuwa told a Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce (ZNCC) organised gathering of business executives in Bulawayo on Thursday that some of the ailing firms who benefited from the fund were back on their feet.
“Firms who benefited from Dimaf, especially those under judicial management, have grown the cake. The $10m they were given has grown to $28 million through a revolving fund,” said Mabuwa.
“There’s a lot of enthusiasm and if industries that benefited pay back the money the fund would stimulate increased growth.”
Deputy Minister Mabuwa said she was in Bulawayo to meet businesses in their different sectors to understand their concerns and facilitate support mechanisms from the government.
She said the revival of Bulawayo was certain as it was a priority to the government.
“Bulawayo has been singled out by the highest authority in the land to be a target for revival. We’re working on several strategies to achieve that and there’s a lot of encouraging work done by industry here,” said Deputy Minister Mabuwa.
According to CABS, 48 companies, about half of them from Bulawayo have received loans worth $28 million from Dimaf since 2011.
It is estimated that more than 100 companies have closed shop in Bulawayo since 2009, leaving more than 20,000 workers jobless and their dependents wallowing in poverty.
Before independence, Bulawayo was generally known as the country’s industrial hub and at one point accounted for 75 percent of the country’s manufacturing activities.
State entities such as the National Railways of Zimbabwe and the Cold Storage Company that used to employ thousands of people are now a pale shadow of their former selves.
Online Reporter