Ecobank Zimbabwe Has Secured $15M From Afreximbank

The facility comes as SMEs account for more than 60% of economic activity in Zimbabwe and intra-African trade remains at about 15% of total African trade, underscoring how constrained domestic credit and limited regional trade integration continue to drive development finance institutions to step in with targeted funding amid tight global liquidity and elevated borrowing costs.

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has extended a $15 million finance facility to Ecobank Zimbabwe Limited to support small and medium-sized exporters, as African lenders intensify efforts to boost intra-continental trade and industrialisation amid tightening global financing conditions.

The facility, issued under Afreximbank’s Export SME Development Programme (ESDP), will provide working capital and capital expenditure financing to Zimbabwean SMEs operating in sectors including agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare and logistics.

The deal comes as African economies face persistent foreign currency shortages, high borrowing costs and slowing access to global capital markets, increasing pressure on regional lenders to support domestic production and export diversification.

Zimbabwe’s SME sector accounts for more than 60% of economic activity and employs a large share of the workforce, according to government and industry estimates, but many businesses remain excluded from formal credit markets.

Afreximbank said the programme is designed to address financing gaps that commercial banks often avoid because of perceived risk in smaller enterprises.

“In Zimbabwe and across the continent, Afreximbank remains firmly committed to supporting SMEs as engines of export growth, economic resilience, and long-term development,” Oluranti Doherty, managing director for export development at Afreximbank told Impact Newswire.

She said the facility was intended to help enterprises participate more effectively in intra-African trade and regional value chains.

The financing structure channels Afreximbank funding through Ecobank Zimbabwe, which will manage lending and advisory support to local businesses.

According to the bank, 43.75% of proceeds will support intra-African trade activities, while 18% will target manufacturing projects, reflecting growing emphasis across Africa on local industrialisation and value addition instead of raw commodity exports.

The initiative also aligns with broader efforts under the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA), which seeks to increase trade among African countries, currently estimated at roughly 15% of total African trade, compared with significantly higher intra-regional trade levels in Europe and Asia.

Ecobank Zimbabwe Managing Director Moses Kurenjekwa said the partnership would expand financing access for small exporters.

“Small businesses are the engine of our economy, and access to appropriate, export-linked financing is what enables them to grow, create jobs, and compete regionally,” he said in a statement.

Analysts say development finance institutions are increasingly stepping in to fill funding gaps left by commercial lenders as African governments push to strengthen domestic industries, reduce import dependence and expand regional trade integration.

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