DBN partners with China Development Bank

THE Development Bank of Namibia (DBN) and the China Development Bank (CDB) are going to co-operate in the financing of infrastructure, skills development and research on the role and significance of development finance, following the signing of a memorandum of understanding on Friday.

DBN Chief Executive Officer David Nuyoma said the two banks will begin to identify projects immediately, based on their viability and development impact.
He said the partnership with the CDB demonstrates the DBN’s commitment and approach to cooperation.
‘When the DBN was launched in 2004, one of the key goals was to establish linkages that would assist Namibia not just with capital, but also with access to skills and knowledge which could be put to use locally to speed up and improve development and delivery of infrastructure.
‘Individually, we would have difficulty making a difference. However, by cooperating, we can widen the scope of development rapidly,’ Nuyoma said.
The CDB, established in 1994, is one the most successful development finance institutions in the world.
By the end of last year, it had issued an accumulated total of 1,6 trillion yuan, nearly N$2 trillion, in loans to more than 4 000 projects. This includes infrastructure development projects like the Three Gorges Dam, infrastructure for the Beijing Olympics and the South-to-North Water Transfer Project.
The DBN, ten years the CDB’s junior, has the mandate to provide capital in support of infrastructure in addition to its support of enterprise, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) and local authorities.