Dairibord to include AfCFTA in its operating environment

Sihle Mkondo

Dairibord Holdings Limited (DHL) is poised for growth, riding on economic drivers such as vaccination programmes, a stable auction currency and a good farming and rainy season.

DHL board chairman, Josphat Sachikonye said this while announcing the financial statements for the year ended December 31, 2020.

“Our strategy is founded on leveraging investment in brands, human capital, plant equipment as well as focusing on collaboration across the value chain to optimise business results. The African Continental Free Trade Area (ACFTA) will increasingly form part of our operating environment, and will introduce both threats and opportunities in imports and exports,” he said.

DHL, Africa’s sixth largest milk producer recorded a 12.5% decline in sales volumes as at 31 December 2020 attributed mainly to the global Coronavirus pandemic which negatively affected demand and supply chains across markets. The group’s revenues were up by 5% at Z$5.3billion in 2020 compared to Z$5billion the previous period.

The African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), a US$3.4 trillion economic bloc comprised of 54 African economies, is the world’s largest group since the establishment of the World Trade Organization (WTO). It has the potential of unlocking intra-Africa trade that could see Dairibord Holdings Limited fulfill its ambition of accessing the African markets and benefiting from value chains.

Challenges to intra-Africa trade include poor infrastructure, political unrest, excessive border bureaucracy and corruption.