AFREXIMBANK, a leading multilateral financial institution, has agreed with CBZ Bank to provide a US$80 million facility to boost trade for Zimbabwean companies.

The deal was signed on Wednesday at Afreximbank’s 31st annual meetings and 3rd Afri-Caribbean Trade and Investment Forum.

The facility, the Zimbabwe Independent understands, has a three-year tenure with an option to roll over for another two years.

In a statement, CBZ said US$60 million will provide working capital to support exporters and SMEs in Zimbabwe’s value chains, enabling them to finance inventory, supply chain, pre-export and post-export business activities.

An additional US$20 million Afreximbank Trade Facilitation Programme Facility (AFTRAF), a non-funded line of credit, will issue guarantees and letters of credit (LCs) to further facilitate trade.

“This line complements the funded line above, but targets and supports mainly the importers supporting both SMEs and large corporates on various sectors of the economy to facilitate trade using non-funded options such as guarantees and LCs,” the statement reads in part.

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“AFTRAF is set to capacitate trade facilitation in line with the expectations of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement to regionally integrate Africa.”

The trade facility aims to promote financial inclusion and community development by supporting small and medium-sized enterprises.

By opening up new markets, the facility seeks to enhance SME competitiveness, foster employment creation and build resilient value chains that can withstand global supply chain disruptions.

Additionally, it will support export-oriented industries, reducing the import bill and boosting key economic sectors such as mining, agriculture, manufacturing, and SME capacity building, ultimately driving economic transformation.

Afreximbank also signed another facility worth US$443 million with Etu Energias of Angola. The facility will be used for local acquisition of strategic petroleum assets in that country.

Actress and JVL Media co-founder Viola Davis signed a memorandum of intent with Afreximbank to create an African Film Development Value Chain.

Following the ceremony, she emphasised the power of storytelling in reshaping the African narrative.

She said the prevailing perception of poverty and suffering associated with the continent is intentionally perpetuated to justify mistreatment by oppressors, and so it is important for Africans to take ownership of their narrative.

Afreximbank is a pan-African multilateral financial institution mandated to finance, facilitate and promote intra and extra-African trade.

For over 30 years, the bank has been deploying innovative instruments to deliver financing solutions that support the transformation of the structure of Africa’s trade, accelerating industrialisation and intra-regional trade, thereby boosting economic expansion in Africa.

At the end of December 2023, Afreximbank’s total assets and guarantees stood at over US$37,3 billion, and its shareholder funds amounted to US$6,1 billion.