Harare – Packaging manufacturer, Nampak Zimbabwe Limited in its trading update for the quarter ended December 2018 says it is not making meaningful headway in obtaining control over its estates.
The Group’s estates fall under Hunyani Forests Ltd which is a supplier of eucalyptus and pine timber for transmission poles, pit props and timber for pulping at the Pulp and Paper division.
Last year, the Group said its land holdings will be central in enabling it to support the tobacco industry’s stated position to move away from coal-cured tobacco to tobacco curing by renewable resources by 2020.
Managing Director, John Van Gend said the Group continue to struggle to access foreign currency despite assurances around the intention to ensure BIPPA agreements are honoured.
Resultantly, Van Gend said their major shareholder, Nampak Holdings has limited further financial support due to non-payment of their credit.
“Due to the non-payment of our creditor and loan accounts with Nampak Holdings, they had no choice but to limit further external support until such a time as we make inroads into the repayment of the outstanding liabilities.
“We have engaged the relevant authorities over this issue, and whilst we have made significant progress in resolving the problem, as yet there has been no flow of funds.”
Zimbabwe's Bilateral Investment Promotion and Protection Agreements (BIPPAs) with regional and international countries has always been under scrutiny.
Through signing the BIPPA, both governments aim to signal to investors that investment is encouraged and that both governments recognise the need for internationally recognised protection of investors and investments.
Foreign investors have in the past been anxious about investing in Zimbabwe because of the high levels of uncertainty about the protection of their investments, particularly the protection of property rights. The BIPPA aims to allay this uncertainty.
Zimbabwe has in the past years signed BIPPA deals with regional and international countries but questions are being raised over whether such agreements are unlocking any meaningful investment projects amid revelations that several approved external businesses are failing to become a reality.
Nampak Zimbabwe Limited is a Zimbabwe-based packaging company. The Company is principally engaged in the manufacturing of paper, plastic and metal packaging products, as well as leasing biological assets and the timber processing plant.
The Company's segments include Paper, Plastics & Metals, and Services. The Paper segment includes Hunyani Corrugated Products Division, Hunyani Cartons, Labels & Sacks Division, Hunyani Management Services Division, Hunyani Forests Limited, Hunyani Properties Limited and Softex Tissue Products (Private) Limited.
The Plastics & Metals segment includes Mega Pak Zimbabwe (Private) Limited and CarnaudMetalbox Zimbabwe Limited. The Corrugated Products Division manufactures corrugated containers, and specialized packaging covering the tobacco, horticulture, floriculture and citrus sectors for local and export markets.
Mega Pak Zimbabwe (Private) Limited offers blow molding, injection molding, stretch blow molding and rotational molding technologies.
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