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Business Reporter
UNITED Refineries Limited chief executive officer, Mr Busisa Moyo, says participating at the just ended Roil Bulawayo Arts Awards (RBAA) has helped his company to improve sales volumes for its products.
RBAA, which was held a fortnight ago in Bulawayo, is an annual arts event sponsored by URL, which among other products manufacturers the Roil cooking oil brand. The giant agro-processor splashed $20 000 on the city prime arts showcase.
Participating in “events like RBAA and other engaging, captivating and helpful activities and events” is a noble undertaking for firms, Mr Moyo posted on his Twitter handle.
“Already demand for ROIL products is going through the roof, we can’t keep up. We believe in ‘below the line’ and impactful marketing!”
He said localising production was also putting pressure on raw materials.
“The nature of our imports is changing but we still have big smugglers of laundry soap and Mayonnaise who’re also competing for forex… the stores are full but disposable income is flat,” Mr Moyo said.
Following the adoption of a multi-currency system in February 2009, Zimbabwe has experienced an influx of cheap imported products mainly from China, South Africa and India.
Over the years, the Government has been grappling to tame the negative trade balance as Zimbabwe’s entire manufacturing sector was operating at uncompetitive levels driven by a host of operational challenges. Against this background, the Government has adopted a raft of measures to mitigate competition from cheap imports.
In the first four months of the year, Zimbabwe’s exports improved by 46 percent to $329,6 million compared to $225,6m during the same period last year.
Online Reporter