Cement manufacturer, Lafarge Cement Zimbabwe, says it has taken the necessary measures to ensure business resilience and continuity in the wake of COVID-19 lockdown which has disrupted the smooth operations of companies since March 30.
Zimbabwe just like many other countries across the globe has been under lockdown since March 30 as part of measures by the government to curb the spread of the pandemic which has claimed thousands of lives across the globe.
In a latest trade update for the first quarter, Lafarge company secretary, Flora Chinhaire said the listed concern was already implementing survival strategies.
“This has included closely monitoring the evolving situation and proactively putting in place measures to minimise the impact on business performance,” said Chinhaire.
“The declaration of the COVID-19 outbreak as a pandemic and the national lockdown effected from the 30th of March has an inevitable impact on Q2 2020 volumes. It is projected that Q2 2020 volumes will decline by 30%, with the possibility of spillover risks impacting the second half of the year.”
She explained: “In order to mitigate the financial impact of the situation, the company has launched the action plan “HEALTH, COST & CASH” for immediate execution. Under this initiative, the health of employees, their families and the company’s stakeholders remains top priority.”
Chinhaire said a number of systems had been set up to ensure sustained wellness for all during and beyond this period.
She said various actions to fight the potential spread of the virus among employees and contractors had been implemented, including a Work from Home (WFH) policy that has been rolled out for applicable roles.
“This has been achieved with the requisite support to ensure employee productivity and wellbeing while working remotely,” she elaborated.
“Furthermore, we are focused on continued containment of our costs. This involves activities to bring costs down, improve e efficiencies and innovations to optimise costs without compromising the quality of operations. The business is focused on advancing the use of digital customer interface platforms to drive sales and maintain customer engagement with the company’s product offering. This puts the business in a relatively strong position during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic.”
