By William Kumwembe:
Cash-strapped State produce trader, the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), has set an optimistic target of improving its cash-flow by 2022.
The company has been making losses for the past five years due to “inadequate working capital”.
Admarc is, however, targeting to grow its returns on investment from the current four percent to 10 percent in 2022.
The parastatal is targeting to grow its profit to K5 billion by 2022 and its cashflow to K8 billion.
The ambition is embedded in Admarc’s four-year strategic plan for 2018 to 2022 launched in Blantyre on Thursday.
The financially struggling statutory corporation is also targeting a 15 percent increase in sales volume of all strategic commodities by 2022 and a 100 percent supermarket/ outlets penetration.
“The projected financial statements show that Admarc would be profitable and would have paid off its loans within 2018-2022 period,” reads part of the strategic plan.
Speaking when unveiling the plan, Admarc acting Chief Executive Officer, Margret Roka-Mauwa, conceded that the institution needed an overhaul to return to profitability.
She said the plan would help the firm improve its performance.
Admarc Board Chairperson, James Masumbu, said the grain trader is targeting value addition among key strategic ways of meeting its targets.
“We have focused more on value addition. It is our considered view that at this time we cannot just be engaging in the production of crops,” Masumbu said.
The government feels the plan would help the statutory corporation improve its cashflow.
Ministry of Agriculture Director of Administration, Maxwell Tsitsi, said the plan would help Admarc become financially self-reliant.
“Our expectation is that now Admarc would improve its operations,” he said.
Admarc is a commercialised State-owned entity whose main objective is to champion the production, grading, value addition, packaging, marketing and distribution of agricultural produce across the country and beyond.
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