Signature of a Loan Agreement in the Kingdom of Swaziland

Kuwait Fund
The Loan Agreement was signed on behalf of the Kingdom of Swaziland by Mr. Martin Dlamini, Minister of Finance, and the Deputy Director-General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, in attendance of His Excellency Hasan Oqab, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to South Africa and Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Hashim, Regional Manager for Central, East and South African Countries.
8 February 2015
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Kuwait Fund For Arab Economic Development (Kuwait City)
press release

A Loan Agreement was signed today in Mbabane between the Kingdom of Swaziland and Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development whereby the Fund will extend a loan of Kuwaiti Dinars 4,000,000/- (i.e. equivalent of 14 million US$) to help finance the Manzini-Mbadlane Highway Project in the Kingdom of Swaziland.

The Loan Agreement was signed on behalf of the Kingdom of Swaziland by Mr. Martin Dlamini, Minister of Finance, and on behalf of the Fund Mr. Hamad S. Al-Omar, Deputy Director-General of the Kuwait Fund for Arab Economic Development, in attendance of His Excellency Hasan Oqab, Ambassador of the State of Kuwait to South Africa and Mr. Abdulrahman Al-Hashim, Regional Manager for Central, East and South African Countries.

The aim of the Project is to enhance the economic and social development of the Kingdom of Swaziland, and at the same time participate in linking the country with the neighboring countries, Mozambique and South Africa.

The Project consists of construction works for an asphalted four lane urban arterial road with controlled access, with an approximate length of 1.2 km, between Manzini circle and Carson Motors, and an asphalted four lane dual carriageway freeway with restricted access, with an approximate length of 28.2 km, between Carson Motors and D42 at Mbadlane, inclusive of their respective service roads, interchanges, bridges, and underpasses. The project also includes, inter alia, the consultancy services for review of the detailed engineering design and the supervision of construction.

The total cost of the project, including taxes, contingencies, land acquisition and interest during construction, is estimated at Emalanghani 1,364.362 million (equivalent to about KD. 36.480 million) of which about KD. 29.604 million is in foreign exchange, and represents about 81.2% of the total cost. The Fund Loan will cover about 11% of the total cost of the project and the Borrower also intends to obtain, in addition to the financing to be provided by the Fund for the Project, Loans from (i) the African Development Bank to cover about 37% of the total cost of the project (ii) the Arab Bank for Economic Development in Africa to cover about 8% (iii) the OPEC Fund for International Development "OFiD" to cover about 12% (iv) Abu Dhabi Fund for Development to cover about 8% to assist in completing the financing plan of the Project, while the remaining costs will be covered by the Government of Swaziland.

The Loan will be for a period of 20 years including 4 years grace period, and will be amortized in 32 semi-annual installments, the first of which will be due on 1st date on which any interest or other charge on the Loan shall fall due after the elapse of the above mentioned grace period. The Loan bears an interest rate 2% per annum, in addition to 0.5% per annum to cover administrative costs and other expenses incurred in the implementation of the Loan Agreement.

By concluding this Loan Agreement, it will be the 3rd Loan that the Fund provided to the Kingdom of Swaziland, where the Fund previously provided two loans amounting to 6.699 million Kuwaiti Dinars equivalent to about 23.144 million U.S. Dollars for financing a project in the transport sector. The Fund had also extended a technical assistance to finance the feasibility study amounting to KD 150,000 for the National Specialized Hospital in Mbabane. In addition, the Fund currently administers the State of Kuwait Grant in an amount of US$ 5.5 million for financing the construction and equipping of a sports emporium within the Kwaluseni Campus of the University of Swaziland.

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