South Africa bank buys stake in Ohorongo, Namibia
The Development Bank of Southern Africa Ltd., a state-owned lender, will acquire a 7.3 per cent stake in Schwenk Zement KG’s Ohorongo Cement unit in Namibia, Ohorongo General Manager Hans-Willem Schuette said.
“We expect to sign the agreement with the Southern African Development Bank this week,” Schuette told reporters yesterday at the plant’s site in Otavi, northern Namibia, declining to say how much the lender will pay for the stake. It will first be “warehoused” by the South African bank and may later be sold to Namibian pension funds, he said.
Ohorongo, which cost US349.4m to build, is expected to reach full output next year and will meet Namibia’s annual cement consumption of 380,000t this year, he said. The European Investment Bank was among lenders that provided funding for construction, while working capital is being provided by Namibian banks, he said.
Published under Cement News
