The South African state of Zimbabwe has been offered a loan in the region of $600 million from Botswana, to help boost its diamond industry and local private firms.
Zimbabwe’s secretary for foreign affairs, James Manzou, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi are expected to sign the loan agreements on Thursday in Harare.
Zimbabwe’s diamond industry will take $500 million dollars from the loan and a $100 million to help private companies, whose operations have been crippled by the dollar shortage, according to state sources.“Zimbabwe is also appreciative of the $500 million diamond facility offered to it by Botswana,” Manzou was quoted as saying by the paper
There has been a huge struggle in Zimbabwe’s diamond sector since 2016 after the government kicked out private sector participants for failing to agree to a deal to be merged with the
James Manzou, Zimbabwe’s secretary for foreign affairs, said President Emmerson Mnangagwa and Botswana’s President Mokgweetsi Masisi are expected to sign the loan agreements in Harare later this week on Thursday.