Habesha Cement has signed loan facilitation agreements for the construction of a new 1.4Mta greenfield cement plant in Ethiopia.

The Development Bank of Ethiopia (DBE) has signed a ETB630m loan agreement with the company at its headquarters on 19 November 2013, according to reports by the Addis Fortune. The loan is to be paid back over a period of 7-9 years. 

Loan agreements were also signed between Habesha, the DBE and the PTA Bank - the financial arm of the Common Market for Eastern & Southern Africa (COMESA). The PTA Bank is co-financing the Habesha project by lending ETB50.4m.

Habesha previously had difficulty in gaining funding as an ETB1.5bn loan from the DBE was withdrawn at the beginning of this year. The bank offered just 30 per cent of the agreed amount on the basis that Habesha raise the remainder from outside financing.