adminAccording to CABS, which has been tasked to disburse the $40 million under Dimaf, a total of $11,4 million has so far been disbursed. CABS managing director, Mr Kevin Terry, said companies from Matabeleland have so far received more than $9 million. More than 80 companies have either closed or relocated from Bulawayo to other cities and towns. It is therefore pleasing to note that the bulk of the money disbursed so far came to Matabeleland and most of the companies that benefited are obviously in Bulawayo.
More than 20 000 workers lost jobs following the closure of their companies in Bulawayo alone and some of these workers are likely to be back at work now that some of their companies have received funding. A number of companies that are still operating in Bulawayo have also indicated that they might be forced to close due to lack of working capital and Dimaf should bail such companies.
We want at this juncture to urge CABS to speed up the disbursement of the fund so that these companies that are on the verge of closure could be saved. The Government, according to State Enterprises and Parastatals Minister Gordon Moyo, has since released its Dimaf contribution of $20 million. The other $20 million was provided by Old Mutual.
We want to believe that CABS has since relaxed the stringent conditions that companies were complaining about. Ailing companies cannot be expected to meet the usual loan conditions such as providing collateral. Mr Terry said CABS has so far approved loans worth about $14,8 million and disbursed $11,4 million. It has taken too long to disburse the money but now that the process has started, CABS should put in place systems to ensure the process is speeded up before more Bulawayo companies join the list of those closed.
The Government and many other stakeholders are agreed that the $40 million is not enough to bail just Bulawayo’s ailing companies so we want to believe more resources are being mobilised. It is only logical that by the time Government and its partners such as Old Mutual avail additional resources, CABS should have disbursed all the $40 million.
We have said it before that captains of commerce and industry should not fold their arms and just wait for Dimaf which, as already stated, is not adequate to recapitalise all ailing or closed companies. Company managers should be innovative and seek other alternative sources of funding to keep their companies going. Dimaf should therefore come as additional funding.
Since Dimaf is public funding, there is nothing wrong in making public the beneficiaries of the fund. The business community has in fact called on CABS to publish the names of companies that have benefited from the fund. CABS, we want to believe, is selecting the beneficiaries fairly and transparently and as such it has nothing to hide. Making public the names of the beneficiaries would ensure that companies management teams use the Dimaf money for its intended purposes. There have been cases in the past when companies received funding for working capital and management diverted it to other uses like buying themselves cars. We want to once again call upon CABS to put in place systems to speed up the approval and disbursement of loans as soon as possible.
Online Reporter