Admarc ready for recapitalisation

Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc) says following the conclusion of its restructuring process, it now expects government to provide adequate resources for its recapitalisation to implement its business plan.

Speaking in an interview in Lilongwe yesterday on the sidelines of a meeting with the Anti-Corruption Bureau (ACB) aimed at training the Admarc board and management on fighting corruption, board chairpeson Zachary Kasomekera said the State produce trader now needs resources to go on the market this coming season and buy crops.

He said since the institution is  fully established and properly staffed, the board is confident  that whatever figure Admarc will put forward to negotiate with government, government will come up with that amount or the negotiated figure that will be arrived at for Admarc operations.

Said Kasomekera: “It will not make sense that we just restructure, recruit people and then we are not assisted with recapitalisation because recapitalisation is what will make Admarc tick to operate the way it used to.”

Earlier this year, Admarc asked Treasury for K44 billion to implement its business plan, but government allocated K4 billion in the 2023/24 National Budget and the money went towards salaries for employees and the restructuring process.

Kasomekera said Admarc is in the process of developing a budget that will be submitted to government.

He said: “We have also embarked on identification of markets and we are checking the market demand to help us decide what crops we can purchase.

“As to what budget will come out this year, it will be dictated by the demand that we establish, that we assess for each crop. And then we will have the total amount of money for buying the crops.”

Kasomekera said Admarc needs funds to rehabilitate sheds and other infrastructure, and pay salaries to members of staff, among others.

On yesterday’s training, he said fighting corruption is one of Admarc’s priorities, hence the involvement of ACB to empower the board in identifying, preventing and fighting corruption.

“As a new Admarc, we want to start on a strong footing. We want to start on a footing that is in line with good business practices and also in line with full support of government efforts in fighting corruption,” he said.

In a separate interview, Admarc chief executive officer Dan Makata said the new staff have the capacity to handle the wide market that Admarc has, adding the restructuring process looked into the markets that exist nationwide.

Asked what the new staff will be doing in the absence of funding to implement the recapitalisation process, he said there are other aspects of Admarc that are still functional.

Said Makata: “Although we are waiting to be recapitalised, there is ongoing work to be done and that is exactly what they will be doing.

“They do not need to wait for recapitalisation to start work. We do sell maize and other crops. There is maize that we are selling.”

Meanwhile, Parliamentary Committee on Agriculture chairperson Sameer Suleman has urged caution, saying just changing a few top positions will not have a meaningful impact if the institution is not well managed.

“We want a transparent restructuring process where all stakeholders make inputs and get convinced that restructuring has taken place.This has to be done before we can start giving money to Admarc,” he said.

When contacted on when Treasury will recapitalise Admarc, Minister of Finance and Economic affairs Simplex Chithyola Banda asked for more time, saying he was engaged in a meeting.

On August 31 2022, government suspended Admarc’s operations and sent the staff on forced leave to pave the way for the restructuring process that would see new establishment and staff being hired to revive Admarc.

And on January 31 2023, government retrenched the Admarc staff and operated with skeleton staff.