Sunday News (Zimbabwe)

Integrated Protection Scheme on the cards

- Dumisani Nsingo Senior Business Reporter

availabili­ty would help enhance production considerab­ly.

“About $1,5 million will be required for this retooling. The company is looking for investors or partners with capacity to help upgrade, expand and modernise the business,” said Mr Mushohwe.

Dete Industrial Ceramics started operating in 1989 and the company used to be a major supplier of refractory or fire bricks. Its biggest customers were mostly iron smelting companies notably Ziscosteel, which it was supplying with fire bricks for the relining of its furnaces.

Due to depressed business, the company has over the years been forced to retrench part of its workforce from a high of 200 in 2007 to only 20 employees to date.

However, Mr Mushohwe said prospects of the company turning DOMESTIC financial safety net players are engaged in consultati­ons with a view of establishi­ng an Integrated Protection Scheme (IPS) in a bid to enhance depositors’ protection and safeguard people’s funds in various investment portfolios.

Deposit Protection Corporatio­n (DPC) chief executive officer Mr John Mafungei Chikura said plans of setting up an IPS are at an advanced stage.

“There are on going consultati­ons among all the safety net players regarding establishm­ent of an IPS,” said Mr Chikura.

Presently DPC is only protecting banks depositors. The concept of an IPS has been a success in countries such as Malaysia, South Korea and the United Kingdom.

An IPS is a system where a single agency, usually a deposit insurer, provides a guarantee or protection to investors with capital market intermedia­ries (Investor Compensati­on Scheme), policyhold­ers of insurance companies (Insurance Compensati­on Scheme) and depositors in deposit-taking financial institutio­ns (Deposit Protection Scheme) for the loss of their funds in the unlikely event that their bank, microfinan­ce bank, insurer, or capital market intermedia­ry fails.

DPC was appointed liquidator of six failed CBIs in final liquidatio­n as well as provisiona­l judicial manager of one failed institutio­n in provisiona­l judicial management.

DPC payments to depositors take place on two fronts namely the Deposit Protection Fund (DPF) up to the prevailing cover level, currently $1 000 and liquidatio­n dividends on a pro-rata basis depending on debt recoveries and asset realisatio­n.

“To date $3,2 million has been disbursed to the depositors of the six failed banking institutio­ns namely Royal, Trust, Genesis, Allied, Interfin and Afrasia out of the (DPF) paid against an exposure of $6,4 million,” said Mr Chikura.

The payment represents a slightly more than 50 percent compensati­on of the insured amount.

“Payments for depositors of these institutio­ns except Genesis are still ongoing and we urge those who have not claimed their money from DPC to do so,” said Mr Chikura.

He said on the liquidatio­n front, about $8,57 million has been paid out as dividends to creditors of the six failed CIs under liquidatio­n.

“The average estimated dividend to concurrent creditors is about 15 percent. Total liabilitie­s of banking institutio­ns under liquidatio­n are $284 million against total assets at $93,4 million,” said Mr Chikura. around its fortunes were high considerin­g the massive infrastruc­tural developmen­t projects earmarked in Matabelela­nd region and in various parts of the country.

“Harare and Bulawayo have been good markets for the limited production done by the company at present. With more production there is scope to increase supply given huge residentia­l developmen­ts in the two cities.

Hwange, Lupane and Victoria Falls are also increasing­ly taking products that the company is producing,” he said.

The company has over the years received a number of enquiries on the export market.

“There are export customers in Botswana and Zambia that we have supplied in the past who can be better served if production can be increased,” said Mr Mushohwe.

Newspapers in English

Newspapers from Zimbabwe