GABORONE (Reuters) – The African Import and Export Bank (Afreximbank) plans a $1.5 billion economic package for Botswana to support key economic sectors such as mining, manufacturing, transport and agriculture, the bank’s president said on Wednesday.
This would be the first major funding facility for Botswana by the Cairo-based multilateral lender, which last year was part of a group of banks that arranged a $220 million facility to fund the expansion of Lucara’s Karowe mine.
“We will be proposing to your government an Afreximbank Country Programme for Botswana in an amount of $1.5 billion to be implemented over the three years to end-2025”, Afrexim President Benedict Oramah said in Botswana’s capital Gaborone.
Finance Minister Peggy Serame, who was present during the announcement, said Botswana was looking forward to finalisation of the program, which will pave the wave for the country to start accessing some of the funds.
Last year, the World Bank and the African Development Bank (AfDB) approved $250 million and $137 million loans respectively to support Botswana’s post-pandemic recovery.
(Reporting by Brian Benza; editing by Anait Miridzhanian and Bernadette Baum)