A Botswana-headquartered investment firm, Norsad Capital has issued a US$10 million medium-term credit facility to support Central Africa Building Society (CABS) Zimbabwe’s growth strategy.
The facility is earmarked towards lending to CABS’ export clients, particularly in the agricultural sector, The Sunday News reported citing a statement by Norsad Capital investment director and transaction lead, Ms Carol-Jean Harward.
The director said:
This investment aligns with Norsad’s sectoral theme of Financial Institutions as well as the impact focus on financial inclusion and sustainable livelihoods.
We are excited to partner with CABS as it plays a catalytic role in unlocking opportunities to enable local farmers and SMEs to export both regionally and internationally.
CABS deputy managing director, Mr Cecil Ndoro said the funding will help capacitate the exporting industries. Said Mr Ndoro:
Norsad’s funding will help strengthen CABS’ balance sheet by providing medium-term funding as well as capacitating the exporting industries by providing working capital and capital expenditure facilities, thus boosting the country’s foreign currency earnings.
As CABS, we will deploy the funds to the productive export sectors, notably agriculture, manufacturing, mining, and tourism. The focus will be on generation of foreign currency, creation of employment and value chain financing for the benefit of industry players and the economy at large.
He said the investment will promote entrepreneurship, enable growth and improve livelihoods.
Norsad Capital is an impact investor and private creditor provider, offering tailor-made debt solutions to mid-market growth companies in Sub-Saharan Africa.
Meanwhile, CABS is one of the top three banks in Zimbabwe and has 38 operational branches, over 900 Agents, and the largest Point of Sales machine network of about 25 000 countrywide.
The agricultural sector is key to Zimbabwe’s economy for domestic production, exports, and employment; hence, Norsad’s facility supports sustainable livelihoods and builds a better Africa by impacting lives.