Afreximbank gives Zimbabwe US$60m for tobacco
PANA

The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has given Zimbabwe a US$60 million loan to finance tobacco production this year, Finance Minister Tendai Biti said Thursday.

Until five years ago when the government reformed the agriculture sector, tobacc o was the country's biggest export, but this has now been overtaken by platinum and gold due to falling production.

Biti said the loan would help farmers to increase production to the targeted out put of 75 million kilogrammes this year, up from 42 million kilogrammes last yea r .

However, he said the tobacco industry required US$120 million to achieve its pro duction target, and noted government would continue looking for additional funds .

Tobacco production in Zimbabwe has fallen sharply from the peak of more than 200 million kilogrammes after the government drove off white farmers, who dominated

the crop's farming, from their farms to resettle landless blacks.

The majority of the resettled farmers have neither the skills nor the financial resources to produce tobacco on a large scale. 

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