More company closures loom: ZCTU

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THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says about seven companies closed shop in the last three months, pushing the number to 141 from January 2014 to date‚ an indication that the economy is imploding.

THE Zimbabwe Congress of Trade Unions (ZCTU) says about seven companies closed shop in the last three months, pushing the number to 141 from January 2014 to date‚ an indication that the economy is imploding.

MTHANDAZO NYONI OWN CORRESPONDENT

ZCTU general-secretary Japhet Moyo told Southern Eye Business that the companies closed were from the banking, transport and catering sectors.

“It’s an indication of where we are heading to in 2015,” he said.

“We are going to have more company closures and many job losses. The government should change its policies. For example, the cost of doing business in Zimbabwe is very high. It might take you three months to register a company‚ but in Rwanda it takes five days.

“We have policies such as the indigenisation law, which are scaring away potential investors. Unless there is a paradigm shift, it means we are heading nowhere.”

Presenting his 2015 National Budget in 2014, Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa said in 2011, 2 130 companies closed and 19 191 workers lost jobs. In 2012, 1 464 companies shut down, leaving 20 825 employees jobless.

In 2013, 878 companies closed shop rendering 14 499 jobless and in 2014, 134 firms shut down throwing 9 280 people out of work.

Information from the Retrenchment Board reveals that at least 6 960 workers were retrenched last year, with further job losses expected at nearly 40 companies currently undergoing either judicial management or liquidation.

In the banking sector, Allied Bank and AfrAsia surrendered operating licences while the likes of Tetrad and Metbank are on the brink of collapse with Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe governor John Mangudya describing them as “ill”.