<\/p>\n
The facility is aimed at improving access to import financing, regional markets and business supplies for small and medium-sized enterprises, while also strengthening support for women-led businesses and Zambia\u2019s participation in global trade.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Economist Trevor Hambayi said the guarantee would support Access Bank Zambia, a private sector lender, in expanding trade finance to businesses that have struggled to secure funding.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hambayi said previous guarantees had largely gone to public enterprises or through government-to-government and bilateral arrangements before being channelled into public banks. Hambayi said the latest arrangement marked a shift because the beneficiary bank is privately owned.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
According to Hambayi, the private sector focus could bring practical benefits for sectors such as agriculture, manufacturing and cross-border trade. Hambayi said access to finance remained low in Zambia, with current access at 8.3%, compared with a level of around 20% that Hambayi said would be needed to make a broader economic impact.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hambayi said climate pressures had also made business financing more difficult, particularly for agriculture, increasing the importance of additional trade finance support.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On Zambia\u2019s wider financial position, Hambayi said the approval carried significance after the country\u2019s 2020 sovereign default following a missed Eurobond payment. Hambayi said debt restructuring had improved Zambia\u2019s classification and had started to support renewed access to external finance, although financing remained expensive.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hambayi said the African Development Bank approval also pointed to rising investor confidence during a period in which international investors had been monitoring Zambia\u2019s debt restructuring process. Hambayi said the facility could contribute to stronger inflows of external capital to support economic recovery.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hambayi said the guarantee could also improve Zambia\u2019s standing in global financial markets and help attract more capital into the country.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
On implementation, Hambayi said African Development Bank processes would likely take a few months before funds became available, although Hambayi said the facility was expected to start entering the market within the year.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
Hambayi also confirmed that Access Bank Zambia is part of the same Access Bank group operating in Nigeria, a structure that Hambayi said could offer added advantages for exporters and importers operating across African markets where the bank already has a presence.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
–ChannelAfrica–<\/p>\n","protected":false},"featured_media":35853,"template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false},"news-type":[44],"class_list":["post-35852","news","type-news","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","news-type-finance","entry"],"acf":{"short_description":"Zambia\u2019s small businesses are set for a financing boost after the African Development Bank approved a $20 million Trade Finance Transaction Guarantee for Access Bank Zambia, with the facility expected to unlock up to $240 million in trade over the next five years.","published_date":"","news_description":"Zambia\u2019s small businesses are set for a financing boost after the African Development Bank approved a $20 million Trade Finance Transaction Guarantee for Access Bank Zambia, with the facility expected to unlock up to $240 million in trade over the next five years.","form_embed":"","author":"","image_caption":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35852","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/news"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35852\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":35854,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news\/35852\/revisions\/35854"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/35853"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=35852"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"news-type","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.channelafrica.co.za\/channelafrica\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/news-type?post=35852"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}