Published by the government of Zimbabwe
20 November 2007
Harare — The delay in considering price review applications by the National Incomes and Pricing Commission, newsprint shortages and load-shedding have been cited as the reasons for the reduction in the circulation figures of newspapers on the market.
Giving oral evidence before the Parliamentary Portfolio Committee on Transport and Communications, chaired by Makonde Member of Parliament Cde Leo Mugabe (Zanu-PF), representatives of the newspaper industry said there was need to seriously consider the issue of pricing if the industry was to be viable. This would also improve the availability of its products on the market.
Zimpapers group chief executive Mr Justin Mutasa said challenges of newsprint supply were currently being addressed by Government and Mutare Board and Paper Mills but called for flexibility on the part of the NIPC. "It is our view that the NIPC should be flexible in its operations. A meeting between us and the commission had to be postponed because the NIPC could not make a quorum. "We went there the other day seeking a price review and we were told that there were only two commissioners. "Our business is suffering because NIPC has failed to get a quorum," said Mr Mutasa.
He said newsprint supply to Zimpapers had plummeted in recent months as Zimbabwe's sole supplier of newsprint, Mutare Board and Paper Mills, could not provide the product due to a number of challenges, one of them being lack of foreign currency to import pulp used in newsprint production. He said Zimpapers subsidiaries in Harare were getting 50 tonnes of newsprint per week against a requirement of 150 tonnes while those in Bulawayo were getting 10 tonnes against a requirement of 30 tonnes.
Mr Mutasa said the company had made representations to Government and that had seen an improvement to 75 tonnes per week for Harare and around 12 tonnes for the Bulawayo operations. Zimpapers had explained to its customers, including advertisers, of the challenges the group was facing. "I am positive that there would soon be an improvement because our principals are now aware of our challenges. "Circulation drives advertising; we have held meetings with advertisers and their agents and agreed on some tariff reviews. "Right now we are losing a lot of money in potential advertising revenue because it is one of the anchors of a newspaper," he said.
Cde Mugabe, however, urged the newspaper industry to approach the NIPC as a block since they shared common problems, saying speaking with one voice would make their case strong. Mr Mutasa said Zimpapers had deployed personnel to crack down on unscrupulous vendors who were charging more than the stipulated prices of newspapers. The committee had expressed concern over the sale of newspapers at black market prices. Art Corporation chief executive Mr Richard Zirobwa, under which Mutare Board and Paper Mills falls, told the committee that they required US$400 000 per month to import pulp used in the production of newsprint. He said they entered into an agreement with Zesa Holdings to be exempted from load-shedding with effect from this month and pay their electricity bills in foreign currency.
This had, however, not been effected as Zesa was still cutting electricity supplies to the plant. He said the company had made a cumulative loss of more than $145 billion since the implementation of the price blitz in June.
Zimbabwe Independent general manager Mr Raphael Khumalo cited the same problems of unviable prices, saying their challenges were compounded by fuel shortages as they were getting the fuel from the parallel market.
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