The African Export-Import Bank (Afreximbank) has extended a $15 million facility to Ecobank Zimbabwe under its Export SME Development Programme (ESDP), targeting small businesses that operate in export value chains. The financing is meant to support working capital and capital expenditure needs across agribusiness, manufacturing, healthcare, logistics, technology and the creative industries.
The partnership between the two institutions goes back to 2018, and this latest move continues their push to widen SME access to finance in Zimbabwe. Small businesses in the country are widely seen as the backbone of the economy, though they have often struggled to get support from traditional lenders.
Oluranti Doherty, Managing Director for Export Development at Afreximbank, said the facility reflects the bank’s broader mandate to address structural financing gaps in African trade. “In Zimbabwe and across the continent, Afreximbank remains firmly committed to supporting SMEs as engines of export growth, economic resilience and long-term development,” she said.
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She described the facility as a high-additionality, high-impact intervention, and noted that the programme goes beyond just providing credit. It also focuses on building the operational capacity of SMEs to integrate into regional and continental value chains.
The money will be channelled through Ecobank Zimbabwe as a licensed financial intermediary. Afreximbank brings its trade finance expertise, while Ecobank contributes its local distribution network and client relationships. According to Afreximbank, 43.75% of the proceeds will support intra-African trade activities, and 18% will go to manufacturing.
Borrowers under the ESDP will also receive technical assistance in areas like financial management, operations, export readiness, marketing and digitalisation. The idea is to improve credit quality and help SMEs compete in export markets, not just hand them money.
For Ecobank Zimbabwe, the facility expands its ability to serve a segment that is critical to the country’s growth outlook. The bank plans to combine Afreximbank’s funding with its own SME product suite and advisory services.
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Moses Kurenjekwa, Managing Director of Ecobank Zimbabwe Limited, said the partnership fits with efforts to unlock the country’s SME potential. “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.
There is something familiar about this kind of arrangement in African trade finance. Development banks have long used local intermediaries to reach smaller borrowers, largely because they lack the infrastructure to serve them directly. What has changed in recent years is the greater emphasis on pairing loans with capacity-building support, a shift that reflects lessons learned from earlier credit lines that struggled with repayment rates.
The initiative arrives as Zimbabwe sits along key Southern African trade corridors, including the North-South Corridor between Dar es Salaam and Durban and the Beira Corridor, which links landlocked economies to Indian Ocean ports. That geographic position matters for export-oriented businesses.
