Zimbabwe: TIMB Finalising $2 Trillion Credit Facility

Source from:  The Herald (Harare) 16 January 2008 01/17/2008

The Tobacco Industry and Marketing Board is close to finalising details that would enable it to go onto the market where it plans to raise $2 trillion for its credit facility. TIMB acting chief executive Dr Andrew Matibiri said yesterday that they had been discussing the issue of introducing tobacco bills with the Reserve Bank. "The RBZ officials have been forthcoming and we are hoping to finalise issues by the end of this week," he said. The central bank is expected to guarantee the bills when they are floated on the market. TIMB was also working with ZB Bank on the terms and conditions for the bills. The development comes as TIMB is seeking alternative funding after exhausting the $40 billion that it got under the Agriculture Sector Productivity Enhance-ment Facility (ASPEF). The board is assisting 7 000 small-scale tobacco farmers during the 2007/08 farming season. TIMB requires the money to procure inputs for the growers. The organisation was facing a shortfall of 6 000 tonnes of basal fertilizer, 1 000 tonnes of ammonium nitrate, 17 866 litres of Fenvelerate, 5 400 litres of Monocrotophos, 5 400 litres of Tamaron, 60 000 litres of Sukerkill and 4 500 litres of Tabamex/Accotab under its input scheme. The board secured 3000kg of Temik, 1 500 litres of Acepahte and 3 465 litres Chlorpyriphos from the $40 billion received under ASPEF. Through the TIMB initiative, the 7 000 farmers were expected to plant a total area amounting to 12 000 hectares. A target of 120 million kg has already been set for this year's tobacco crop and preliminary indications are that preparations are well on course. A total of 495 kg of tobacco seed has been sold to date, making it an all-time record for the country. If the seed is planted at the correct sowing rate of an average 6,5 grammes per hectare, it would cover over 60 000 hectares, which is sufficient to yield the set target. Meanwhile, Dr Matibiri said farmers were expecting improved supplies of coal after getting assurance from Hwange Colliery Company. Hwange last month indicated that it was going to increase coal production by 44,4 percent on November output of about 90 000 tonnes. A total of 130 000 tonnes were expected to be mined by the end of this month. This was in the wake of a mining contract that was recently awarded to Clidder Minerals, which is owned by tycoon Mr Billy Rautenbach. Clidder won the contract to mine coal at Hwange Colliery Company's concession area. It started operating at the 3B Opencast Site on October 26 last year. Clidder was expected to produce an average of 130 000 tonnes of coal per month for the Zimbabwe Power Company and general industries. Enditem