Zain Ghana has gone to the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to borrow $160 million to fubd its expansion plans.
The Bloomberg news service in a report quoting the IFC, says Zain Ghana will receive a $90 million loan from the IFC, a member of the World Bank Group and $70 million in syndicated loans.
According to the report a statement from the IFC says, the syndicated loan includes a so-called IFC B-loan, in terms of which the corporation was the lender of record and the funds were provided by Canada’s Cordiant Capital, U.K.-based Emerging Africa Infrastructure Fund, South Africa’s FirstRand Bank Ltd. and the Netherlands Development Finance Co.
The OPEC Fund for International Development will also contribute to the loan, the statement said.
Zain Ghana, one of the six mobile phone companies licensed to operate in Ghana, rolled out its services in December 2008. Its subscriber base has grown to over one million.
Zain Ghana is part of the Kuwait-based Zain which has subsidiaries in more than 20 Middle Eastern and African countries.
By Emmanuel K. Dogbevi