ABC Holdings (ABCH) has secured a $50 million loan from the African Development Bank Group’s (AfDB) private sector funding to expand its small and medium enterprises (SMEs) portfolio.
The facility, which will be spread across its subsidiaries in Botswana, Mozambique and Zimbabwe, is expected to increase the average loan tenor for the group’s SMEs clients.
The financial institution is gradually increasing its SME portfolio share and has targetted to achieve a 30 percent market share locally by end 2018 through expanding its retail banking footprint.
“The AfDB will provide local currencies, Botswana Pula and Mozambique Metical to support local currency lending and promote development of the financial sector in these countries,” AfDB said in a statement, adding that the facility will enable ABCH to reach a larger number of SMEs across a wide range of sectors by offering medium- to long-term loans, which are not currently accessible for local SMEs.
“This facility will also cover Zimbabwe where many enterprises face liquidity challenges. The facility is expected to support at least 200 SMEs and generate 800 jobs, including 400 jobs for women, during the period of the project,” said AfDB.
ABCH is the parent company of BancABC.- The Source
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