Online Reporter
Kudzanai Sharara, in ALGIERS, Algeria
CBZ Holdings, through CBZ AgroYield, has signed an agreement with the African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) to form a joint venture company, the Africa Trade and Distribution Company, with the aim of exporting Zimbabwean produce to the continent and the rest of the world.
The joint venture, signed on the sidelines of the IATF2025 that is currently underway here, will also be used to bring in imports.
The African Trade and Distribution Company was launched a few years ago to focus on expanding access to regional and global markets for smallholder farmers and SMEs by providing financing, warehousing, logistics, regulatory advice and prospecting.
At the time of the launch, Afreximbank said it would spend US$1 billion to fund the initiative designed to grow intra-Africa trade and increase SME access to finance.
CBZ AgroYield general manager, Wellington Mutizwa, signed on behalf of CBZ Holdings.
Commenting on the transaction from his base in Harare, CBZ Holdings chief executive officer, Lawrence Nyazema, said the joint venture would be key in executing trade under the Africa Continental Area.
“Today’s agreement is a joint venture between the Africa Trade and Distribution Company, which is co-owned by Afreximbank and ourselves through CBZ Agroyield.
“We have created the Zimbabwean entity jointly. The aim is to export Zimbabwean produce to the continent and the world and also bring in imports,” Mr Nyazema said.
He said that in terms of capital, it was being finalised.
He, however, said the “real value will be in the trades we will do”.
“These should be significant given our partners’ role in promoting inter-continental trade,” said Mr Nyazema.
He also revealed that the bank would sign a small factoring facility early next week.
Factoring in banking is a financial arrangement where a business sells its unpaid invoices (accounts receivable) to a specialised third-party, known as a factor, at a discount to receive immediate cash. This process improves the business’s cash flow by providing working capital without incurring debt, as the factor advances a percentage of the invoice value and then collects the full payment from the business’s customers, charging a fee for the service.
“We want to normalise the way financial transactions are done once again. There has not been real factoring business since the days of the likes of UDC,” said Mr Nyazema.
