China has agreed to give Zimbabwe a loan of 950 million US dollar (ca. 5 milliarder DKR) to help it revive its battered economy, Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has said, according to BBC online Tuesday.
Mr Tsvangirai had been criticised by supporters of President Robert Mugabe for failing to get more support during his recent trip to the West. Mr Tsvangirai and Mr Mugabe formed a power-sharing government in February.
The government says it needs some 8 billion dollar to rebuild the country following years of collapse.
China was one of the few countries to retain economic support for Zimbabwe in recent years. – We will encourage and facilitate more Chinese companies to seek development in Zimbabwe, Chinese official Zhou Yongkang told state news agency Xinhua.
The prime minister visited the US and Europe (bl.a. Danmark) earlier this month in an attempt to raise funding for the struggling nation. The US promised 73 million dollar in aid while the UK pledged to boost its funding by about 8 million, taking its total to 98 million dollar for the year.
Mr Tsvangirai said he had received pledges totalling 500 million US dollar during his trip. -The amount of assistance that was raised on my visit to Europe and the United States does not reflect the enormous support we will be able to utilise if we are to fulfil all our political obligations, he said.
