adminIn a statement, Econet Wireless Zimbabwe chief executive officer Mr Douglas Mboweni said the facility was arranged by Africa Export-Import Bank (AfreximBank) and syndicated to development and financial institutions.
“The facility was arranged by AfreximBank, and syndicated to development and financial institutions from Germany, France, China, Netherlands, South Africa, and Sweden,” he said.
He said the medium-term multi-lender facility deal was concluded at a special ceremony on Wednesday.
He said $255 million from the facility was targeted at re-financing short-term facilities while $52 million had been set aside for funding the purchase of the firm’s equipment for further expansion.
Mr Mboweni said the tenure of the facilities was an average of five years and the blended rate was the London Interbank Offer Rate (LIBOR) plus 5,3 percent.
LIBOR is the average interest rate that leading financial institutions in London charge when lending to other banks.
Mr Mboweni said the borrowing for his organisation’s expansion projects remained possible only through their parent company, Econet Wireless Group.
Through the loan facility, Econet intends to further develop network infrastructure as well as deploy relevant products and services onto the market.
The continued network expansion programme is expected to see the telecommunications operator connecting more people in more places.
The programme will also allow for a greater number of previously marginalised rural communities to have access to affordable telecommunications solutions.
Online Reporter