Zuva Petroleum has secured $20 million offshore to fund the rebranding of its 72 service stations, an official said last week. The rebranding exercise is also meant to increase the company’s market share in the highly competitive petroleum industry, board chairman John Mushayavanhu said.
BY VICTORIA MTOMBA
Speaking on the sidelines of the company’s rebranding launch on Thursday, Mushayavanhu said when he came on board he liked the name and not the corporate colours of the organisation.
Last year, a consortium led by Mushayavanhu snapped up a controlling shareholding in Zuva from Masawara in a deal worth close to $30 million.
“This rebranding cost $20 million and it includes refurbishment of pumps and equipment. We managed to secure the $20 million. We got the money from Nedbank London. We are starting with this one [Pomona] and we will roll out as we go. Obviously now that we have a brand that is vibrant, we expect customers to come and like it. Currently it is more than 30% our market share,” Mushayavanhu said.
Mushayavanhu said Zuva would diversify the product range and the company was already into aviation and liquid petroleum gas.
Zuva’s chief executive officer Bethwell Gumbo said the company had the biggest number of service stations and it has 16 depots currently in operation.
Gumbo said the company was performing well on the market which has 16 players and believes it could do more and secure a bigger market share.
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He said the company had no plans yet to list on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange (ZSE) as it was still operating locally.
“We are not yet ready to list on the ZSE. There is a lot that has to be done. Zuva is still only in Zimbabwe and we need to enhance our position in Zimbabwe and further on in the region,” he said.
Zuva Petroleum was once BP & Shell Marketing Services. It rebranded to Zuva after Masawara acquired BP & Shell assets in 2010.
Speaking at the launch of the Zuva brand, Vice-President Emmerson Mnangagwa commended Zuva and other petroleum players for supporting the country’s economic blueprint, Zimbabwe Agenda for Sustainable Socio-Econo-mic Transformation (Zim Asset) through the supply of fuel and creation of jobs.
“The development and use of biofuels is an international trend on account of benefits that can be derived from the use of such fuels. Thus petrol blending and the use of biofuels are here to stay and all the stakeholders must adhere to government policy on share ownership, especially those participating on the mandatory blending market,” Mnangagwa said.
