Emma Citizen
(Ecofin Agency) – While Zimbabwe is still deprived of support from international lenders, the Minister of Finance believes that the loan obtained from Standard Bank and Absa Group reflects an improvement in the country’s sovereign risk profile.
Zimbabwe has secured a $193.3 million loan from South African banks Standard Bank and Absa Group to finance the construction of several hospitals, Zimbabwean Finance Minister Mthuli Ncube (pictured) announced on Wednesday 29 March.
” The Treasury negotiated the sovereign loan backed by the South African Export Credit Insurance Corporation, through the Zimbabwe Debt Management Office,” he said, noting that the funds will be used to finance the construction of five district hospitals and 22 health centers in the ten provinces of the country.
The Minister also indicated that obtaining this loan proves that Zimbabwe is benefiting from renewed confidence with foreign lenders.
” Foreign banks are now extending lines of credit to the Zimbabwean government, reflecting an improvement in the country’s sovereign risk profile,” he said.
Zimbabwe has been going through a severe economic crisis since the early 2000s after ex-President Robert Mugabe’s land reform shattered a key sector of the country’s economy and caused him to cut off his debt to international donors.
Forced to resign in November 2017 after 37 years of unchallenged rule, Robert Mugabe left a painful legacy to his successor Emmerson Mnangagwa.
A country of nearly 16 million inhabitants, Zimbabwe still drags external debts estimated at more than 13 billion dollars. Still deprived of the support of international donors, this southern African country has had great difficulty obtaining new lines of credit and attracting the foreign investment necessary to revive its economy.
Former Chief Economist of the African Development Bank (AfDB) and Doctor of Mathematical Finance from the University of Cambridge, Mthuli Ncube is the man President Mnangagwa is counting on to improve the country’s financial situation and regain investor confidence. strangers.
