AHL diversifying, to change name
As the worldwide anti-smoking campaign is gathering momentum, tobacco auctioneer Auction Holdings Limited (AHL) group is set to change name to be in line with its current business status.
The resolution to change the name will be tabled at the group’s 51st annual general meeting (AGM) this month in Lilongwe.
In a notice of the AGM, AHL group company secretary Stone Chadzunda said one of the agenda items at the meeting is “to consider, and if thought fit, pass a special resolution changing the company’s name in line with its current business status”.
The AGM will also amend the company’s articles of association to reflect the change of name and status of the company.
AHL provides a platform for tobacco trading in Malawi and has four main floors for selling of tobacco at Limbe floors, Lilongwe Floors, Chinkhoma Floors in Kasungu and the Mzuzu floors.
The tobacco auctioneer has come a long way since 1939 when Tobacco Auctions Limited and Producers Warehouse Limited were both operating tobacco auction floors in Limbe and eventually merged in 1962 to create AHL.
In an earlier interview, AHL group chief executive officer Evans Matabwa said the rebranding process, which is part of diversification drive, has been contributed partly to the anti-smoking campaign which is gathering pace throughout the world.
He said the company has been associated with tobacco since 1936, but now is the time not to put eggs in one basket, hence the diversification.
Matabwa, nonetheless, said AHL will not abandon its role in the tobacco sector but will make sure that it is not taken unawares if anything happens to the Malawi’s number one foreign exchange earner which wires in more than of the country’s foreign exchange earnings and contribute about 15 percent to the gross domestic product (GDP).
“The recent trends in the global tobacco business have signalled the need for institutions and, more importantly, economies like ours to take urgent and well calculated decisions about our destiny,” he said.
He said AHL’s economic environment has been challenging as far as business growth is concerned, but said they realised that progress can only be made if the challenges can be taken head on and convert them into bridges towards progress.
“We have made strategic decisions not only to sort out the current challenges but also to ensure sustainability of the group’s business in the long-term. The rebranding process has been made easier because we will maximise the utilisation of the current resources which includes human capital,” said Matabwa.
He said the emergence of its subsidiary companies such as Malawi Leaf Company Limited, AHL Steel Limited, Auction Holdings Commodities Exchange (AHCX), Tobacco Investment Limited and Agriculture Trading Company (ATC) is part of a diversification plan.
