Harare - Zimbabwe’s limitation of imports has helped at least one Harare-based company boost its manufacturing capacity.
Zimbabwe has limited imports from other countries, such as South Africa, in a bid to boost local industry. Currently, most manufacturing facilities are running at around a third of total capacity.
Rank, Zimbabwe’s biggest stationery producer, is a company that seems to bear testament to Zimbabwe Reserve Bank Governor John Panonetsa Mangudya’s plan to boost the economy by encouraging exports.
Rank is currently benefiting from Zimbabwe’s import limitation policy, as it has grown plastic manufacturing capacity from 25 percent in January to 80 percent currently, while book production has gone from 40 percent to 100 percent, around the clock, says FD Ketan Naik.
Ketan Naik adds the company’s largest line is in school stationery, with buses from school arriving before each term starts. The company is also Typek’s sole agent in the country, and provides paper to newspaper printers as well, he says.
The company has also started making its own pens and rulers, says Ketan Naik. He notes Rank has since expanded vertically and is now making some plastic ware as well. Although the company is currently importing much of the plastic items it sells through a sister company, it is ramping up manufacturing. This, says Ketan Naik, is because of Zimbabwe’s import priority rules, which means that plastic items are now scarce and it makes economic sense to produce in-house.
Ketan Naik adds the company almost had to close its factory a few years ago when Zimbabwe hit hyperinflation. However, he says, Rank decided to continue operating and can now benefit from recent policy changes.
MD Kiritkumar Naik adds hyperinflation pushed the company close to bankruptcy as it couldn’t trade and had no stock.
Last year, the company had a large boost when government imposed an effective 60-percent duty on imported books, says Ketan Naik. On the back of this protection, the company has introduced a new line to make counter books because imports are too costly, he notes.
Ketan Naik is glad things are turning around. The group now aims to expand its distribution, and even export to SA in the future, he says.
Currently, it has 75 percent of the market and competes mostly with small traders, who import. This, says Ketan Naik, will soon cease to be viable for them and it can grow its share.
Kiritkumar Naik adds there is huge opportunity to grow in Zimbabwe as government cannot currently afford all its needs. Even if the economy just normalises, this will see the market double, says Ketan Naik. “We’ve got the know how.”
Rank, which has 102 staff and 900 line items, also benefits from Zimbabweans' loyalty to home-grown products, adds Ketan Naik. They would often rather pay a bit more to buy local, he explains.
Kiritkumar Naik adds the company welcomes the introduction of bonds as this will put more cash into the economy, and increase spending, which will bolster growth. This, he says, will mean more action for Rank.
The family-owned business started as a grocery cash-and-carry in 1981 and shifted focus to stationery in the 1990s. In the mid-1990s, the company moved back into manufacturing and is now the biggest stationery manufacturer in Zimbabwe.
* Nicola Mawson was hosted in Zimbabwe courtesy of private industry in SA.
IOL