Africa-Press – Malawi. AHL Group Board has quashed some recommendations made by a taskforce it constituted to look at its operations and the process of restructuring the group.
The taskforce, which consisted of seven people, mainly looked at the process of laying off liabilities the group is entangled in and suggested the process of restructuring to bring the group back to glory.
According to the report from the taskforce which The Business Times has seen, it was agreed that the taskforce would review the requirement for the immediate funding of K6 billion requested from the government through the Agricultural Development and Marketing Corporation (Admarc), part of which was to cover for salaries and restructuring costs.
“Members made directives and recommendations that AHL should transfer AHL Group liabilities to Admarc or the government and transfer the operations and liabilities of AHL Commodities Exchange (AHCX) and Malawi Leaf Company Limited (MLCL) to either Admarc or government,” the recommendations reads.
However, AHL Group Board Chairperson Dhlelisile Matondo said a board meeting held last Friday trashed the recommendations on account that the liabilities should be sorted within the subsidiaries.
Even though she could not clearly mention how much of liabilities the group has, she indicated that the taskforce has been given another task to rework its review and how the company can be restructured.
“The money sent to subsidiaries has to be tracked so that we can find out who is responsible for the underperformance. Then, we can put the servicing of those liabilities to the necessary people and the restructuring is also bringing in efficiencies and cost saving mechanisms including investment in certain areas that will promote profitability,” she said.
Economist from the Malawi University of Business and Applied Sciences Betchani Tchereni agreed with AHL Board that the liabilities should not be transferred to the government.
AHL Group has been sailing through economic hardships. This recently disturbed the tobacco market as workers at Lilongwe Auction Floors protested in presence of tobacco buyers.
