The Sunday News
A HIGH-POWERED delegation from the Eastern and Southern Africa Trade and Development Bank (PTA Bank) will this week tour the country in a fact-finding mission aimed at financially assisting distressed companies.
Africa Corporate Advisors managing director, Mr Mike Nyamazana said officials from the PTA Bank arrive in the country tomorrow and were scheduled to tour a number of companies in Harare before proceeding to Bulawayo.
He said the financial institution had targeted to issue out loans on a minimum threshold of $5 million to the country’s struggling large firms.
PTA Bank provides project and infrastructure finance and trade finance as its core products and services.
“The bank is meant to advance regional economic integration and growth through trade and investment and also promote the development of infrastructure, exports and enterprises in member States. All they require is a summary of the project for the company to qualify for the loan,” Mr Nyamazana said.
He said efforts were under way to ensure that the financial institution extended its funding facility to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs).
“They are currently targeting big companies since their minimum loans are $5 million. The amount is just too much as most of the businesses especially SMEs are not making that much but need loans to improve production,” Mr Nyamazana said.
“They are directly giving the loans to the companies that have projects worth $5 million and above, only a few companies in the country currently have projects amounting to that running,” he said.
Association for Business in Zimbabwe chief executive officer, Mr Lucky Mlilo said there were a number of companies in Bulawayo and the country as a whole in dire need of recapitalisation and the loan facility would go a long way towards improving production at these entities.
“The pledge by PTA Bank is a good move. We hope it will benefit a number of companies. For instance, there are a number of companies especially in the foundry sector that might make use of this facility.
“We also hope that they will take proposals from the clothing and textile industry because most of the companies need capital injection of such a nature,” Mr Mlilo said.
