By MAIMBOLWA MULIKELELA –
THE African Development Bank (AfDB) will provide a loan of about US$50 million to the Development Bank of Zambia (DBZ) for onward lending to the various sectors of the economy.
The bank will launch the Country Strategy Paper (CSP) for Zambia in June this year outlining the programme it will support in the next five years after the expiry of the 2011-2015 CSP last December.
AfDB resident representative Damoni Kitabire said his bank would focus on supporting infrastructure development and private sector as it was important to the growth of the Zambian economy.
Mr Kitabire said private sector planned operations for 2016-2017 include financing of DBZ, Lunzua hydro power project, Access Bank Zambia and Mergence Health (Pty) Limited.
He said in an interview in Lusaka recently that the bank would this year provide a loan of US$50 million to DBZ for onward lending.
Mr Kitabire indicated that the pre-appraisal mission was conducted in April 2015 and that; the full appraisal mission would be undertaken in the third quarter of this year.
Mr Kitabire said the CSP for Zambia was expected to be launched in June this year and would focus on two pillars namely infrastructure and private sector.
He said the bank would finance the energy sector, roads, water, bridges and railway.
Mr Kitabire said the bank would provide a line of credit to the private sector and also engage the Government in trying to establish the constraints the private sector was facing in Zambia.
Mr Kitabire said the bank would also promote the value chain in the Agriculture sector because this was important to the diversification of the Zambian economy.