Business / Local
Mthuli Ncube starts #Zimbabwe industry tour with visit to Surface Wilmer, largest cooking oil manufacturer in Southern Africa
02 Nov 2018 at 20:08hrs | Views
Minister of Finance Prof Mthuli Ncube visits Surface Wilmer who are the largest producer of edible oils in #Zimbabwe, largest cooking oil manufacturer in Southern Africa, & are also partners with Zimbabwe government in ownership of Olivine Industries.
The government is considering selling part of its stake in Olivine Industries to an external investor to raise foreign currency towards recapitalising operations.
The tour of the cooking oil manufacturing giant Surface Wilmar by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube today created a platform to assess the challenges affecting the sector.
Low capacity utilisation, high costs, and limited foreign exchange emerged as key constraints.
With Surface Wilmar being the main investor in Olivine where the government holds a 35 percent stake, Minister Ncube made a passionate plea to restore the glory days of the entity.
"We are just looking at the possibilities of selling the shares to maximise production," he said.
The company stands to benefit if the proposal to dilute shareholding by the state becomes a success, notes its acting chief executive officer Mr Sylvester Mangani.
"It is now about those that can be of greater interests to the needs of the firm," he said.
The revival of the fast moving consumer goods company is also anticipated to reduce the import bill for cooking oil and some groceries.
The government is considering selling part of its stake in Olivine Industries to an external investor to raise foreign currency towards recapitalising operations.
The tour of the cooking oil manufacturing giant Surface Wilmar by the Minister of Finance and Economic Development Professor Mthuli Ncube today created a platform to assess the challenges affecting the sector.
Low capacity utilisation, high costs, and limited foreign exchange emerged as key constraints.
"We are just looking at the possibilities of selling the shares to maximise production," he said.
The company stands to benefit if the proposal to dilute shareholding by the state becomes a success, notes its acting chief executive officer Mr Sylvester Mangani.
"It is now about those that can be of greater interests to the needs of the firm," he said.
The revival of the fast moving consumer goods company is also anticipated to reduce the import bill for cooking oil and some groceries.
Source - Agencies
