Gallery

Skipco Malawi Limited, local supplier for the world's forth largest paper producer Sappi, rolled-out its new corporate drive on Friday after a decade of operations to regain the top seat in the market.

The company established in 1992 as one of the earliest beneficiaries of free market economy, also took advantage of the function to introduce its latest product on the market the new Ultra Image office paper by Sappi.

Managing director Skip Scheepers said in an interview in Blantyre on the sidelines of the function that the company was re-launching to re-advertise itself in the market, especially that the industry was facing tough competition that displaced it as the leading office and newsprint supplier in the country.

"The launch is to really get back our market share," said Sceepers, "We had to do something to make us come out again."

He said the company, whose headquarters is in South Africa, wants to step up business to get back to the summit that made it one of the biggest suppliers to the printing industry in the last decade.

Although facing a depressed market because of economic problems the country is going through largely stemming from the withholding of about K6.8 billion (US$75 million) of donor support, Scheepers said the company will continue sailing with the volatile current until things get better.

He said just like most private enterprises, Skipco has suffered the brunt of high interests rate, pegged at 40 percent. Scheepers said, however, that crying will not solve the industrial problems but hard work and positive mind will make a difference to business.

Said Scheepers: "We have to be positive but however if interest rates were to come down that would do the industry some good.

The Reserve Bank of Malawi said the desire to cut interest rates, which make it expensive to borrow from commercial banks, cannot be entertained at the moment because economic factors do not support that.

The company made a name in the early 90s when it won big contracts to supply security ballot papers for the national referendum that changed the country's politics in 1993.

In the last five years, the company has secured big jobs to print cheques and other security documents and forms.