Kanengo Tobacco Processor Company has been closed due to financial hiccups which has seen 179 permanent employees of the company jobless.

In a statement issued today, the companies says among the reasons for closing the facility are: reduction in national crop size, reduced international demand for Malawi air-cured burley tobacco and high competition in tobacco processing in Malawi.

“KTPL, just like other tobacco companies in Malawi, has been undergoing difficult financial times due to… factors within and outside Malawi,” reads part of the statement.

Kanengo Tobacco Processors Limited is a Malawian company that owned a processing plant capable of handling 32 million kilograms of the leaf.

Among others, the company cites reduction in national crop size and reduced international demand for Malawi air-cured burley.

It has since pledged to compensate fairly all the retrenched workers in tandem with the country’s employment laws.

Kanengo Tobacco Processor Company has been delivering its activities in the country for at least 22 years.