Rural Development Investment Holdings (Rudevit) , a fertiliser production venture, has ex pressed optimism that its product will be on the market next year as it continues to offer shares to raise capital.
In an update on the offer of its shares on its website, the company says, so far, it has completed three trials of its granulated organic fertiliser, mainly on maize at Chitedze and Bvumbwe research stations.
“On the basis of successful completion of the remaining construction, installation works and commissioning of the plant, Rudevit fertiliser is expected to be on the market in the 2025/26 growing season.
“This will offer Malawians an alternative and affordable fer t i l i ser that becomes an immedi ate impor t substitution in the midst of forex challenges,” it says.
Meanwhile, the company says the share price is at K7.50 where it was set to run between February and De c ember 2 0 2 4 following commencement of construction of supper structure and completion of funding negotiations with Export Development Fund.
Initially, the share price was at K5.00 between February and December 2023 when machine delivery was done while between February and December 2022 it was K3.00 during construction of perimeter fence and financing.
Meanwhile, the venture share trading at the current price will close on December 31 2024 pending subsequent review in February, which will align the valuation with current progress of the project.
In an earlier interview, Rudevit managing director Hastings Bofomo Nyirenda said the project’s roll out capital was affected by last year’s devaluation.
He s a i d : “We h ad projected to spend up to K1.2 billion, but this has already shot up so much.”
In a separate interview, i n v e s t m e n t e x p e r t Bernadette Maere described the initiative as positive, say ing such col l ec t i ve investments are better on long-term, more so being an indigenous base.
“It’s a good initiative as a collective investment. As a nat ion, it is good to also invest in private arrangements,” Maere said.
Meanwhile, secretar y g e n e r a l o f m i n o r i t y shareholder s o f l i s ted companies Frank Harawa has said the only challenge for such a venture is that most Malawians still do not understand issues of shares.
Harawa said: “It’s a good initiative, at K7.50 the share price is reasonable and the only thing is that Malawians do not understand issues of shares.
“So, this being a company that is not listed, it’s really difficult for people to follow, but otherwise if people understand very well the initiative of this grouping is interesting.”
To-date, Rudevit has over 800 shareholders who are continually buying and topping up on their shareholding. The company ’s author i sed capital is 10 billion shares, of which over 1.5 billion have already been subscribed.
