$70m approved to finance Beitbridge post upgrade
THE African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has approved $70million (about R1.05 billion) to finance the expansion and upgrade of the Beitbridge border post in Zimbabwe.
The bank said it had authorised a $43m senior-term loan facility to Zimborders Mauritius Ltd and the issuance of an investment guarantee of $27m supporting the Pembani Remgro infrastructure fund to join other investors in Zimborders Mauritius Ltd.
The financing facility forms part of a $204.4m syndicated senior-term loan facility for which Afreximbank was among a consortium of financial institutions acting as mandated lead arrangers and senior debt lenders.
President of Afreximbank Professor Benedict Oramah said that the improvement of the Beitbridge border post was critical to reducing costs associated with traffic delays and in turn increasing trade in the southern Africa region would further Afreximbank’s drive to boost intra-African trade.
“It is too costly to wait for almost five days at the border to deliver goods and services across southern Africa. With this facility, we aim to cut indirect and direct costs of trade associated with border post effectiveness and efficiency,” Oramah said.
The Beitbridge border between Zimbabwe and South Africa is the busiest border crossing in southern Africa.
The border post is the key access point to trade with surrounding countries to the north, and its upgrade would significantly reduce waiting periods that have hampered and slowed trade across southern Africa, causing haulage operators to use longer, less efficient alternative routes.
TradeMark Southern Africa estimates that a truck takes about five days to be cleared at the border post.
The approval of the loan facility and investment guarantee to upgrade the border post would reduce waiting times and improve its operational efficiency and effectiveness.
The African Export-Import Bank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution with the mandate of financing and promoting intra-and extra-African trade.
Afreximbank was established in October 1993 and is owned by African governments, the African Development Bank and other African multilateral financial institutions, as well as African and non-African public and private investors.