Tongaat Hulett suspends pay advances to Zimbabwe's sugar cane farmers

Tongaat Hulett’s Zimbabwe unit has suspended advance payments to sugar cane farmers.

The company said it is unable to make advance payments after the government ordered banks to stop lending.

“It is with regret that the millers advise of the immediate suspension of advance payments until further notice. We normally fund the advances from loan proceeds that we access from the banks. After the recent suspension of lending by banks we find ourselves unable to continue offering advances,” Tongaat Hulett COO James Bowmaker said in a notice to farmers.

Recently, President Emmerson Mnangagwa ordered banks to stop lending indefinitely, as part of efforts to stop the slide of the Zimbabwe dollar.

The business community criticised the measure which comes at a time when investor confidence is low in the country. Zimbabwe National Chamber of Commerce said no investor would be attracted to an economy in which lending can be suspended overnight.

TimesLIVE