Infrastructure Development Bank of Zimbabwe hoping to increase capital to $250 million

 Zimbabwe’s state infrastructure bank hopes to access foreign funds and increase its capital to $250 million by next year, depending on the success of the Government’s foreign debt repayment and re-engagement programme with international lenders.

The southern African nation is working on a $1.8 billion plan with global lenders as it bids to end years of being frozen out of international debt markets after it defaulted on loans at the turn of the century.

Last year it paid up $107 million in arrears  it owed to the International Monetary Fund (IMF) but still owes AfDB $601 million and the World Bank $1,15 billion.

Presenting the Infrastructural Development Bank of Zimbabwe (IDBZ) financial results for 2016 today, finance director Cassius Gambinga said the bank would approach both private and public lenders once relations are normalized.

Currently, the bank is capitalized to the tune of $48.6 million with an asset base of $159.94 million.

“The success of our capital raising in terms of capitalizing the bank is closely tied to what happens at the macroeconomic level and at the re-engagement level. We do not believe we will be able to mobilize the $250 million locally….the bulk of that funding is likely to come from foreign sources – Development Financial Institutions (DFI’s), Sovereign Wealth Funds and Infrastructure Investment Funds- that better understand the infrastructure business,” Gambinga said.   

“We are engaging DFI’s that we will request to come in at one level or the other and provide capacity to our balance sheet ..they may not want to put in equity initially but they may be able to give us capacity through lines of credit…either way we are looking to grow our balance sheet”. 

The bank reported a full year loss of $1.3 million from $4 million in 2015.

Revenue for the period increased 10 percent to $7,43 million.

In 2016 IDBZ raised $22.5 million in several bond issues.- The Source

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