Online Reporter
Kuda Bwititi in BAKU, Azerbaijan
THE African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) says it plans to provide Zimbabwe with a significant financial boost, totalling US$1 billion, with the funds set to be allocated to both the public and private sectors to stimulate economic growth and development.
This emerged after President Mnangagwa met Afreximbank president Professor Benedict Oramah at the United Nations Climate Change Conference, also known as COP29, here yesterday.
Speaking to Zimbabwean journalists briefly after the private meeting, President Mnangagwa said he had deliberated with Prof Oramah on the multi-faceted ventures that the Pan-African financial institution is implementing in Zimbabwe.
“I had a meeting with my brother Professor Oramah and it relates to various projects in Harare, which we are interrogating the pace of.
“I assured him that I would look into it. But on our part, as the Government, we are going to provide adequate land which they are seeking in Binga.”
Prof Oramah revealed that the US$1 billion would be channelled towards trade facilitation, industrial parks, railway development and cotton value additions, among other areas.
“We updated him (the President) on all the activities of the bank in Zimbabwe and thanked him again for his strong support for the bank. We explained to him support in the pipeline, a (US) billion dollars (worth) of facilities being processed for some private sectors and Government agencies with a focus on developing several trading activities, including…industrial parks, the test and inspection centre which we agreed to develop in Zimbabwe for the Southern Africa area.”
Prof Oramah said in recent years, the bank had injected over US$2 billion into the Zimbabwean economy, whilst the US$1 billion is fresh capital.
“These are additional lines we are providing. Currently, we have about $2 billion worth of funds in Zimbabwe overall. These are to banks, to companies, to Government agencies. So we have an additional $1 billion, also to banks, and also to companies, including to help support in railway development, the power sector and organisations that are involved in trading activities, the cotton sector, and so on. So those are the things that are we are processing,” he said.
Prof Oramah said in the textile industry, Afreximbank is working on developing an industrial park.
“But on top of that, through our fund, Fund for Export Development in Africa, which Zimbabwe has become a member, we are also investing in Arise Integrated Industrial Platform to develop it into an industrial park and also to develop an integrated textile facility in Zimbabwe.
“We are also looking at developing a testing and inspection certification centre in Zimbabwe as we’ve done in a few other countries that we’ve done or are developing in Nigeria, in Kenya, in Egypt. So we want to do one in Zimbabwe. So we came to seek support (from President Mnangagwa) for some of these initiatives.”
Prof Oramah said other projects that the bank is ready to fund include initiatives related to the implementation of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
Afreximbank is currently constructing its Africa Trade Centre in the Avenues area in Harare.
Prof Oramah revealed that the mammoth structure, which is set to change the face of the area, will be complete by mid-next year.
“We expect that it will open by the middle of next year. It’s the Afreximbank Africa Trade Centre. We’re building African Trade Centres in all our regional offices. So the one for Harare is well on the way and advancing according to plan. We expect that it will open by the third quarter of next year.”
leeroy mupariri
