The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has approved loans totaling US$3.24 million equivalent for projects in Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria, and Zimbabwe. All of the approved loans will be made by IFC's Africa Enterprise Fund (AEF), which finances smaller projects with costs between US$250,000 and US$5 million. IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest multilateral source of financing for private sector projects in developing countries.
AEF Loan to Help Finance Hotel Construction in Kenya
AEF is to make a loan of US$1 million to Waterfront Hospitality, Ltd., a Kenyan company, to help finance the construction of a four-star beach hotel on Galu Beach, 30 kilometers south of Mombasa. The cost of constructing the hotel, which will resemble a traditional Swahili village, is estimated at US$4.1 million. Kenya's tourist industry has grown rapidly over the past ten years to become the country's largest foreign exchange earner.
AEF to Lend US$1.2 Million to Soft-Drink Manufacturer in Mozambique
AEF is to provide a US$1.2 million loan to Refrigerantes da Beira Limitada (RBL), a Mozambican company that has taken over a bottling plant owned and operated by Sociedade Geral de Cervejas e Refrigerantes de MoÁambique, a parastatal. RBL was established in 1992 for this purpose under the privatization component of Mozambique's economic reform program. AEF's loan will help finance the rehabilitation and partial privatization of the plant, which will manufacture bottled carbonated soft drinks under a franchise agreement with the Coca Cola Company. The Government of Mozambique's stake in the company's ordinary share capital will drop to 40 percent; 42 percent of the share capital will be held by a British businessman with more than 40 years' business experience in Africa. The other shareholders will be the South African Bottling Company and Bulawayo Bottlers of Zimbabwe.
AEF to Make Loan to New Graphic Design Firm in Nigeria
AEF will provide a loan of US$240,000 to help finance the start-up of a new graphics service company, Prografik Limited, in Nigeria, at an estimated cost of Naira 22.1 million (US$833,840 equivalent). The new company, a joint venture between Jetosa, a Nigerian holding company, and Kulgraphics Limited, a pre-press graphics trade house based in Kenya, will serve local color printers, advertising agencies, public relations firms, publishers, and manufacturers of consumer goods. The establishment of a local company providing high-quality pre-press services is expected to result in significant foreign exchange earnings for Nigeria; at present, approximately 40 percent of the color separation work required by Nigerian printers is done overseas.
AEF to Finance Agribusiness Project in Zimbabwe
AEF will provide a loan of US$800,000 to Chiparawe (Private) Limited, an agribusiness company operating three contiguous farms in the Marondera district of Zimbabwe, to help finance the construction of an additional water reservoir and irrigation equipment. Chiparawe, which grows fresh vegetables for export to Europe, has been in operation since 1967. The expansion project is expected to result in the creation of 550 jobs and to generate foreign exchange earnings of US$2.2 million annually by 1995. Chiparawe has demonstrated its concern about environmental issues by creating and operating several wildlife conservation areas in Zimbabwe. One of these will be expanded as a result of the project.
