Dunlop Zimbabwe to Receive Distress Fund Lifeline

Dunlop Zimbabwe, the country’s largest tyre manufacturer, is set to receive assistance from the local government’s Z$5 trillion Distressed Companies Fund. Industry and International Trade Minister Obert Mpofu revealed this week that the company was one of over 300 companies that applied for assistance from the fund. He said: “Dunlop is a very strategic company that we, as government, will not watch to the time it folds. On the part of government, we have resolved to make it one of the companies that will benefit from the Z$5 trillion facility that we unveiled for distressed companies”.

Dunlop slipped into crisis last year after it failed to secure foreign currency to finance its operations, a development that saw it downsizing operations and sending more than 500 employees home. Its working week was cut down to three days and the company had to operate with less than 150 employees. At the time, the company required over US$350,000 for its operations and for the acquisition of raw materials.

The new managing director at the company, Eugene Turikwa, this week refused to discuss the company’s revival with local newspapers.