Minister Moyo Launches Dunlop 50th Anniversary

Speech delivered by Honourable Minister of State in the Prime Minister’s Office Mr Gorden Moyo on the Dunlop Zimbabwe 50th Anniversary Launch in Bulawayo on 18th November 2009


Your Worship the Mayor of Bulawayo, Councillor Thaba Moyo,
Members of Parliament and Senators here present;
The Chairman of Dunlop Zimbabwe, Dr Luis Ceneviz,
Management and employees of Dunlop
Invited Guests,
Ladies and Gentlemen,

It gives me great pleasure to be the guest honour at the launch of the Dunlop Zimbabwe 50th Anniversary Celebrations. This occasion is a milestone in the history of the Apollo Group of Companies and Dunlop itself and in the history of Bulawayo and indeed of Zimbabwe.

As many of you know, the Ndebele praise name for Bulawayo City is Kontuthuziyathungqa – loosely translated as the Factory City. Bulawayo is also widely known as the City of Kings and Queens.


It is forward looking and results oriented companies like Dunlop that have enabled Bulawayo to establish itself as the manufacturing hub of Zimbabwe. I acknowledge and thank the Management and employees who over the years have built this company into the great brand that is has become.

Since 1959, before most of you were born, Dunlop has proved its staying power by managing to remain operational when most companies succumbed to economic pressure. In the said period, Zimbabwe went through the Nationalistic 60s, followed by the Liberation war days of the 70s. Between 1980 and mid 1990s, Zimbabwe enjoyed economic prosperity. However from 1996 until recently Zimbabwe went through a difficult political and economic phase.

This period was characterised by political and economic instability. As far as the economy was concerned there were numerous shortages, e.g. forex, fuel, skills and goods in general. Various elections during this period added to this political instability. Virtually all the economic sectors in Zimbabwe registered negative growth rates. The country’s image abroad suffered greatly as isolation gathered momentum.

The economic mal-performance was made worse by a Price Control system that further made business unviable as hyperinflation took root in the economy.

However in spite of all these problems Dunlop remained committed to Zimbabwe in general and to the motoring public in particular. I am advised that Dunlop went into toll manufacturing with South Africa and Zambia as a survival strategy.

At this stage I need to pay special tribute to Apollo Tyres of India for showing confidence in Zimbabwe at a time when most foreign investors were shunning the country. Not only did they buy equity in the business they also advanced financial support to the local Dunlop company to enable it to sell tyres in the region. They also supplied the expertise and raw materials to allow Dunlop Zimbabwe to continue operating when most companies were closing.

Today with us is the Apollo representative Luis Ceneviz who is also the Dunlop Chairman. I welcome you to Zimbabwe and ask you to help us spread the good things we are doing here to your business associates overseas.

The launch of the Inclusive Government this year has brought with it a positive change in the country. Dunlop together with other companies has seen an improvement in the business climate.

Shortages of fuel, forex, goods, etc, are no more. Price Control has been abolished. The Inclusive Government is working on improving our country’s risk profile so that we can attract foreign direct investment and balance of payment supports. This will assist banks improve lending conditions to the business sector and so improve your working capital position. Government wants to see Dunlop and other businesses increase capacity utilisation and employment and this was clearly articulated in the STERP Document and will also be included in the Medium Term Economic Plan.

We want to see our people coming back from the diaspora to assist in rebuilding this wonderful nation. The Minister of Finance is projecting a 6% GDP growth rate next year, which can only be possible if companies like Dunlop start to do well.



Zimbabwe needs companies like Dunlop because they produce good quality tyres, which are safe, compared to some dubious cheap imports, which are risky. This was confirmed by my brief factory tour conducted before I came to this room. All credit goes to the maintenance team.
In addition Dunlop is a good corporate citizen through its honesty in paying all taxes and in being a good employer. I understand that although most companies are failing to pay salaries Dunlop’s salary account is up to date.

I urge companies to reconcile employees’ expectations of increased salaries with the company’s ability to pay. We don’t want to kill the goose that lays the golden egg.

The question is: What further measures will government take to continue improving the business climate? The Minister of Finance has publicly stated that the forthcoming December budget will contain measures designed to transform the economy into a growth phase. In addition, government will tighten its revenue collection efforts as far as smuggled products including tyres are concerned.

We are aware that some tyres on the local market are evading paying duty and ZIMRA is being urged to identify the culprits and deal with them. By creating a business friendly environment my government will add further impetus to economic growth and thereby improve our people’s living standards.

Having said this it now gives me great pleasure to declare the Dunlop 50th Annivesary celebrations officially launched. I hope Dunlop will enjoy 50 more and beyond years in Zimbabwe. It will be my honour to unveil the plaque at reception. I thank you.