The Sunday News
Dumisani Nsingo, Senior Business Reporter
A LOCAL firm has merged with Marvo Stationery Manufacturers in a move that will see operations at the country’s former stationery giant resuming this week, more than two years after closing shop.
Marvo Stationery Manufacturers judicial manager Mr Crispen Mwete of C Mwete and Company confirmed that the company will start receiving semi-finished raw material from South Africa this week.
He, however, could not be drawn to reveal the name of the company to partner the Bulawayo-based stationery manufacturer.
“The consignment to start operations is coming next week. These are partially made exercise books meaning that some of the production sections will be by passed until the binding stage. The arrangement is such that we are doing production for a certain client and we anticipate the tenure to be long-term since organisations are avoiding to pay the duty imposed on finished stationery,” said Mr Mwete.
The Government introduced a 25 percent duty and $1 per kilogramme for finished imported stationery products.
“The duty imposed on stationery products is a good move as it protects the local industry and as manufacturers and players in the stationery industry, we have agreed that we shouldn’t hike prices because the idea is to create employment not for businesses to become ‘millionaires overnight’”, said Mr Mwete.
Marvo Stationery Manufacturers was placed under judicial management in September 2014 as it struggled to settle a debt of about $2,5 million accrued after failing to pay its creditors and a huge wage bill backlog.
“At the moment there is a bit of care and maintenance being done to the machinery. The machinery is a bit archaic and given the chance we would want to replace it with the automated one. We anticipate to be producing 90 000 tonnes of exercise books on monthly basis,” said Mr Mwete.
He said about $500 000 was needed to replace the company’s obsolete machinery with the latest technology. Efforts to revive the company hit a brickwall two months ago after a leading Botswana company, Lexus Stationery pulled out of the deal at the 11th hour. Marvo Stationery Manufacturers was established in 1966 and at its peak it used to employ more than 500 workers.
Today its workforce stands at just above 100.
@DNsingo
