AfreximBank agrees to re-organise US$1,4bn Zim debt

THE African Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank) has agreed to allow Zimbabwe to re-organise US$1,4 billion of its debt to the lender, which will act as an adviser in the country’s attempts to raise money to repay the loans, according to documents seen by Bloomberg.

Afreximbank, which is headquartered in Cairo, Egypt, has been one of Zimbabwe’s biggest creditors mostly through mineral-backed concessional loans.

“AfreximBank will identify and approach financial institutions and investors who may be willing to provide financing to the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe and will source letters of intent from interested investors,” reads part of the document seen by Bloomberg.

Arrears to the World Bank and African Development Bank have made it difficult for Zimbabwe to access funding from multilateral institutions.

The country has an estimated US$8 billion in foreign debt.

External debt is estimated at US$8,2 billion by end of September 2020, an increase of US$106 million from the end of 2019 amount of US$8,09 billion mainly on account of penalties and interest arrears.

According to official data from the Treasury, of the total external debt, 17 percent is owed by public entities.

Finance and Economic Development Minister Professor Mthuli Ncube is on record saying arrears have remained a major component of the external debt at US$6,3 billion, constituting 77 percent of the external debt.

By the end of September last year, multilateral external debt was at US$2,65 billion, of which 90 percent were arrears.

The World Bank Group is owed US$1,33 billion while those to the African Development Bank, European Investment Bank and other multilateral creditors stood at US$689 million, US$329 million and US$28 million respectively. — Bloomberg/Business Chronicle.