NMB secures offshore funding for horticulture

Harare (New Ziana) – A local banking group, NMB Zimbabwe (NMBZ), said on Monday it had used a €12.5m line-of-credit facility secured from the European Investment Bank to fund the horticulture sector.

In a statement, NMBZ group chief executive officer, Gerald Gore said the bank planned to secure more international funding for the country’s horticulture industry.

“NMB has been successful in mobilising foreign lines of credit and we have been able to mobilise foreign funding in excess of US$130 million since 2010,” he said.

“We accessed €12.5 million from the European Investment Bank which was largely deployed to support the horticulture industry. We are also in the process of drawing down US$10 million from TDB, the bulk of which will also go into horticulture. We are currently working on a pipeline in excess of US$55 million and two of the institutions have already conducted a Due Diligence on the bank,” he said.

Gore said the NMB group is a big supporter of the horticulture industry, with most farmers especially in the Blueberry sub-sector having received financial support from the bank.

“We believe that the horticulture industry has significant potential for growth and development especially in generating the much-needed foreign currency for the country,” he said.

“One of our indirect shareholders, Rabobank, is one of the world’s leading agriculture banks. We believe that we are better placed to provide financial, technical and market linkages for the horticulture industry,” said Gore.

Last year, the government launched a US$30 million horticulture export revolving fund, which will finance bankable projects with a bias towards value addition.

The fund, which is accessed via normal banking channels, was part of the US$958 million Special Drawing Rights allocation received from the International Monetary Fund.

For the first half of 2021, Zimbabwe’s total horticulture exports grew by 6.5 percent to US$34 million, according to trade promotion agency ZimTrade.

This was the outcome of government incentives, better rains and the reopening of markets that had been shut down by COVID-19, as well as support from development partners, mainly from the European Union.

Major contributors have been tea, macadamia nuts, citrus, fresh flowers and legumes.

New Ziana