HARARE: Zimbabwe has signed a $20 million educational facility with a development fund of the Oil Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) for the construction of 12 schools in eight provinces.
The facility by the Opec Fund for International Development (OFID) was signed by Finance minister Patrick Chinamasa and OFID director general Suleiman J Al-Herbish on the sidelines of the International Monetary Fund/World Bank annual meetings that ended yesterday in Lima, Peru.
“The facility is meant for the construction of 12 primary schools in rural areas in eight provinces. The project will also provide relevant equipment, furniture and standard teacher houses for the targeted schools. The resources will go a long way in complementing government efforts in social infrastructure development,” Chinamasa said.
The country has a huge backlog in infrastructure development due to the unavailability of long-term capital in the market. Over 80% of Zimbabwe’s Budget has been channelled to wages and salaries since 2009, leaving a fraction for capital projects.The country’s school infrastructure backlog has been put at 2 056 with a lot of refurbishments required.
The facility has a tenure of 20 years and the repayment period is 15 years with a five-year grace period. The interest is 1,5% per annum. OFID is a multilateral development finance institution set up in 1976 by Opec member countries.
The organisation seeks to reinforce financial co-operation between Opec member countries and other developing countries by providing financial support to the latter for their socio-economic development.
