The European Union (EU) has extended by one year, the Apex Loan Facility to small- and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs). Grant Thornton associate director Henry Ngaba said the EU review team that visited Zambia recently recommended an extension of the loan facility from October this year, when it was supposed to expire.
Mr Ngaba said only about half of the Ђ4.3 million allocated to the facility had so far been used. Grant Thornton is the manager of the fund made available by the EU and the government, which is designed to support the development of entrepreneurship in Zambia.
Mr Ngaba said that, apart from the concessionary interest rates of seven per cent below base rates, the facility had further enhanced operations through the removal of exchange risks on borrowed money. Previously SMEs suffered huge exchange losses by servicing loans obtained in foreign currencies using the fluctuating local currency.
