AgriBank and the Ministry of Fisheries signed an agreement yesterday setting down guidelines for financing aquaculture or fish-farming projects, and the loans will be provided by AgriBank.

The Ministry of Fisheries was at one stage contemplating setting up a special 'fish bank' to allocate loans for aquaculture projects like oyster farming or inland fish species like tilapia, Fisheries Minister Abraham Iyambo said yesterday. After long negotiations, however, AgriBank came on board to work out loan products for the relatively new sector in Namibia.

"Since 2004 we received applications for aquaculture projects worth about N$350 million," AgriBank's CEO Leonard Iipumbu said yesterday. N$30 million has been set aside so far and two aquaculture companies recently received loans jointly worth N$8 million. One company will set up a fish farm near the Olushandja Dam in the Ruacana area and the other one is an oyster farm already operational at Walvis Bay.

According to Iyambo, 140 applicants have received aquaculture licences over the past six years, but only 12 are operational. Lack of finance was the main reason, but this would hopefully change with AgriBank rendering loans now.