Zimbabwe: Zitac Secures U.S.$21 Million Loan From SA Bank

Source from:  The Herald 08/03/2009

ZITAC has finally secured a US$21 million loan facility from ABSA Bank of South Africa to support 5 000 hectares for small-scale tobacco farmers for the 2009/2010 season. Kudzai Hamadziripi the Zitac public relations officer confirmed the latest development. She said that the loan facility would benefit mostly small-scale farmers. "All the paper work has been done. We are going to receive the funds at the beginning of next month. We want to ensure that farmers access inputs in time unlike the previous years, when they failed to get them in time. "So far 50 farmers have registered to access the inputs under the loan facility. We are encouraging farmers to register for the inputs programme to commence next month. The loan facility is not meant for profit making but to benefit the farmers. "Farmers will get the inputs at cost price. Several growers failed to plant last season after failing to secure fertilizer and other inputs. Some still have the seed that was left over from last season which they would utilise this season." In a related development the country recently received a loan facility of US$60 million from a Tunisian based, African Bank for tobacco production. Tobacco is the country's major foreign currency earner. Tobacco has been identified as one of the strategic crops that have the ability to help the country's economic turnaround. Tobacco farmers got a timely boost following the introduction of the multi-currency system early this year which helped address a myriad of problems that farmers had been facing. As a result, tobacco deliveries to the three auction floors firmed as opposed to the trend in previous seasons. Enditem