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Oliver Kazunga Senior Business Reporter
HEAVY duty electrical manufacturing and engineering firm, Leaford Electric Rewind, is sitting on 80,000 orders that it cannot deliver due to working capital constraints, an official has said.

One of the company’s directors, Orphan Bhiza, revealed this during a tour of the firm’s factory in Bulawayo by a delegation from the Office of the President and Cabinet on Wednesday last week.

Head of public affairs department Ambassador Mary Mubi led the team, which comprised officials from the African Development Bank, African Export-Import Bank (Afrexim Bank), as well as embassy officials from countries such as the Democratic Republic of Congo, India, Malaysia, and Zambia.

“We’ve gone to the banks and they can’t even assist us with funding. They told us we can’t get a loan anywhere and we’re now looking for investors to chip in,” said Bhiza.

“We require an initial capital injection of $300,000 so that we improve on our efficiency. Currently, we’re sitting on 80,000 orders that we can’t even supply because of financial challenges.”

Bhiza said lending rates by local financiers were as high as 35 percent per annum.

“We need funding for new technology and equipment as well as raw materials, some of which we’re getting from South Africa. Local banks are charging interest rates of up to 35 percent per year, which makes it difficult for us to access funding,” he said.

Leaford Electric Rewind is a producer of winding machines and power distribution transformers among others.

Presently the company employs 22 workers in Harare and Bulawayo.

Bhiza said due to funding challenges, they were not able to penetrate the export market although the company has got the capacity to produce for both local and foreign markets.

The firm presently supplies individual customers that include irrigation farmers dotted across the country as well as companies in the private and public sector such as Zesa and the Rural Electrification Agency.

Headquartered in Bulawayo, the company was established by Bhiza, an electrical engineer and Sifiso Ngwenya, a mechanical engineer who partnered to form the firm in 2003.

Ambassador Mubi said the tour was meant to give the government an appreciation of what is needed in terms of coming up with policy interventions aimed at promoting economic growth.

“The purpose of the tour is to showcase what the government is trying to do in terms of policy interventions in order to promote economic activity despite the challenges companies are facing. We’ve got officials from regional financiers and embassy officials who have toured with us because there has been this notion that Zimbabwe’s industries are dead but there are challenges that need to be addressed in terms of funding as well as creating synergies so that jobs are created throughout the value chain,” she said.

In Bulawayo, the delegation also toured Lobel’s Biscuits, Justin Clothing, New Era, National Blankets and United Refineries.